Mark Wiltshire, a University of York English Literature alumnus, is a Rare Books and Manusceripts Specialist at Christie's, London. As a medieval historian and lover of all things rare manuscripts (an often overshadowed side of the art-market) I found talking to Mark about his work of handling these manuscripts on the daily - was illuminating (pardon the pun) and insightful.
Georgina: “Firstly, please could you tell us what your role at Christies entails - we know you specialise in books and manuscripts, but what does a typical day at Christies look like for you?”
Mark: “My office is in St James’s, London, where Christie’s has been holding auctions for over 200 years. A typical day varies a great deal – I’m often out of town seeing clients and their books – but I’ll usually be conducting research for an auction I’m working on. As a Specialist, I work on everything from the very earliest printed books (Gutenberg et al) to modern first editions, so there’s always something to be learned. We offer only the most valuable books and manuscripts at Christie’s, so as Specialists we’re privileged to handle some extraordinary material – Shakespeare First Folios and the autograph letters of Albert Einstein being the first things that come to mind. We have dozens of specialist departments at Christie’s with experts in fields from modern art to dinosaur skeletons, and there’s usually an exhibition in our galleries showing everything before it sells. I’ll take some time out of my day to explore what’s on show: it’s also completely free to the public so I recommend coming along the next time you’re in town.”
Georgina: “What sort of manuscript interests you the most - is there a particular type or period you enjoy valuing the most?”
Mark: “At York, and later at Oxford when doing my Master’s, I was totally devoted to John Keats and the Romantics, so it’s always a special pleasure to work on important books from that period. I’ve made some interesting discoveries relating to that era too, including finding John Clare’s own copy of Keats’s Endymion. We cover books from all periods and most geographies, but I feel closest to English books, especially those in their original bindings with marks of early ownership and annotations. I recently sold a first edition of Frankenstein and discovered in my research that its first owner was known to both Jane Austen and Mary Wollstonecraft. An extraordinary object linking the three foremost female English writers of the era.”
Georgina: “You did your undergraduate in English Literature at York – do you have a favourite memory from studying English at York?”
Mark: “Besides being in a beautiful city, meeting my fiancée and making some wonderful friends, I remember most fondly the feeling that I was living closely with the texts and reading attentively. York is a superb place to study literature. I was forever attending poetry readings and evening lectures, even having the privilege of seeing Seamus Heaney read just a few months before he passed away.”
Georgina: “What were your steps before joining Christies, did you work for any other Books and Manuscripts specialists?”
Mark: “After university, I interned at the Wordsworth Trust in Grasmere, where I gained my first real experience with rare books and manuscripts. I then took a job with an antiquarian bookseller in London, where I learned the basics of the trade for a couple of years before a position at Christie’s became available. I’ve been with Christie’s for a little over 8 years now and it remains the best place to work with books and manuscripts.”
Georgina: “Could you tell me about the examination and valuation process regarding rare books and manuscripts?”
Mark: “Remove the white gloves: they do more damage than good. Then consider a few questions: who is the author? What is the subject? What is the date of publication? Are you, for example, looking at an early edition of Shakespeare or a 19th-century reprint? Is it complete? How is the condition? What does the binding reveal about it? Are there any marks of previous ownership? How many copies of this book exist in libraries around the world? How many have ever been sold at auction? Did this publication make a difference to the world? Is it the first time an important text/idea was introduced? How does its significance compare to similar books that have sold in recent years? Some combination of these questions will give you a good sense of a book’s value.”
Georgina: “Are there any particular styles of manuscripts that are currently in high-demand amongst collectors ?”
Mark: “In the last few years there has been huge demand for important works of science: books and manuscripts relating to Newton, Darwin, Galileo, Copernicus, Einstein, etc. But literary masterpieces still command attention from top collectors around the world, and we’ve seen record prices for the likes of Austen, Shelley, Shakespeare. 20th century writers and thinkers are increasingly collectable too. I recently ran an auction of modern Science Fiction that did very well and I feel that will be an interesting category to follow in the coming years.”
Georgina: “Lastly, I would love to know if you have any advice to those who may be interested in entering the rare books and manuscript world, but don’t know where to start?”
Mark: “Visit some of the antiquarian bookshops in York, make sure you attend the York Book Fair at the racecourse, or get yourself onto the York Antiquarian Book Seminar. Speak to your librarians about opportunities to handle special collections material. Read our sale catalogues at Christie’s to get a sense of the market and come to one of our exhibitions to see the books themselves. The Specialist role doesn’t require a formal qualification – it’s built on experience and growing your expertise, and there are various ways to do that."
As a medievalist, rare books and manuscript ephemera is something that fascinates me greatly, speaking to Mark and gaining some insight into the world of the valuation process and the life of a Specialist was wonderfully revealing. For more information on life as a valuer at a top-tier auction house, see our Canvas Conversations interview with Account Manager at Christies, Liz Lewis.
