Books and Manuscripts

Christie’s Books and Manuscripts department offers for sale the best of the world’s printed books, maps, medieval manuscripts, autograph letters and archives.

Our auctions in New York, London and Paris are populated by the greatest figures of Western history and thought, from Virgil, Shakespeare and Mary Shelley to J.S. Bach, Abraham Lincoln and Albert Einstein. Our expertise covers 2,000 years of textual history, from the earliest codex in private hands to first editions of major works of science and literature, and from the Gospels of a Frankish queen and illuminated Renaissance prayerbooks to cartographic masterpieces and dazzling livres d'artistes.

In parallel with our auctions, we regularly negotiate private sales of the most important and rarest works in the field to collectors and institutions worldwide. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch for a free and confidential valuation, or to simply discuss the market.

An open book depicting the title page of "Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies," published in 1623.

Upcoming auctions

VIEW PAST AUCTIONS

9 Dec
Live
Love and Lust: A Literary Guide
London
10 Dec
Live
Valuable Books and Manuscripts
London
11 Dec
Live
Collection Waring Hopkins : Un Américain à Paris
Paris
4 Feb
Live
Landmarks of Science and Thought: The Paul M. Beigelman Library
New York

Love and Lust: A Literary Guid auction at Christies

9 Dec

Live

Love and Lust: A Literary Guide

London

Valuable Books and Manuscripts auction at Christies

10 Dec

Live

Valuable Books and Manuscripts

London

Collection Waring Hopkins : Un auction at Christies

11 Dec

Live

Collection Waring Hopkins : Un Américain à Paris

Paris

Landmarks of Science and Thoug auction at Christies

4 Feb

Live

Landmarks of Science and Thought: The Paul M. Beigelman Library

New York

Loading component...

Contact us

From free valuations to market advice, our specialists are here to answer your questions.

Margaret Ford
International Head of Group, Books & Science
London
Call+44 (0) 20 7389 2150
E-mailmford@christies.com
A recognised authority on early printing, Meg has handled rare books ranging from editio princeps of classical texts, beautiful botanical books, ground-breaking scientific texts, and great world literature, setting auction records in all these fields, with books such as Pacioli’s Summa de Arithmetica ($1.215m, 2019), Adam Smith’s own copy of The Wealth of Nations (£908,000, 2018), Besler’s Hortus Eystettensis, (£1.9m, 2016), and a deluxe vellum copy of the 1470 Virgil (£1.2m, 2013). She led the team in the record-breaking sale of a printed Columbus Letter ($3.9 million, 2023), an autograph manuscript with Isaac Newton's revisions of his Principia for the second edition (£1.7m, 2021) and masterminded the series of Beltrame and Braune science sales. She was responsible for the only auction coinciding with the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death (Shakespeare, The Four Folios, 25 May 2016) and likes to think that she may be the only person since the 18th century to have sold 7 copies of the First Folio in as many years; she regularly features on documentaries about Shakespeare’s First Folio. Her rare book research has led to numerous discoveries and detecting books stolen from the Danish Royal Library.

Meg is the author of the two-volume catalogue of incunabula in the Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica, Amsterdam (1989); a contributing author to The History of the Book in Britain, vol. III (Cambridge University Press: 1999), and of numerous articles in scholarly journals. She has been an invited speaker at the Library of Congress, the British Library, the Grolier Club and elsewhere and has given bibliographic masterclasses at Cambridge University Library. Meg is a past-President of the Bibliographical Society, a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, a member of the Grolier Club and the Association Internationale de Bibliophilie, and she sits on the development board of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. Meg speaks German fluently.
Thomas Venning
Head of Department, Books and Manuscripts
London
Call+44 (0)20 7389 2255
E-mailtvenning@christies.com
Thomas Venning has been Christie’s lead specialist for autographs and archives since 1998, and Head of Books & Manuscripts in London since 2014.

As specialist and head of department, he has overseen many high-profile sales: an early favourite was The Albin Schram Collection of Autograph Letters (July 2007), described in 100-point type by one newspaper as ‘the greatest letters ever written’; but his favourite single lot is undoubtedly the wonderful autograph of J.S. Bach’s prelude, fugue and allegro for lute, BWV 998, which sold for just over £2.5m in July 2016. His fascination for the life and work of Albert Einstein, sealed when he sold Einstein’s iconic leather jacket in July 2016 (£110,500), led in September 2023 to the auction of Einstein’s autograph manuscript Altes und Neues zur Feld-Theorie at Christie’s Shanghai (CNY 9.375m / £1.05m), the first Classic Art lot to be offered by Christie’s in Mainland China. As head of department, he has led Christie’s to market leadership in London, a position founded on the success of the twice-yearly Valuable Books and Manuscripts sales, the most valuable regular auction series in the Books world, coupled with a stellar series of single-owner sales, including most recently the library of the late Charlie Watts and the autograph collection The Alphabet of Genius (both 2023).

Thomas is one of the UK’s leading specialists in the valuation and sale of archives: notable sales have included the original manuscripts for Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the ‘A’ manuscript of the poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins, the archive and office of Stephen Hawking, the archives of prime ministers and politicians including George Canning, Arthur Balfour and Edward Heath, and papers of soldiers, scientists, industrialists and opera companies, as well as many family and estate archives. He has a particular expertise in the Acceptance In Lieu process.

A graduate of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, Thomas speaks fluent English and French.
Eugenio Donadoni
International Specialist, Medieval & Renaissance Manuscripts
London
Call+44 (0) 20 7389 2152
E-mailedonadoni@christies.com
Eugenio Donadoni joined Christie’s in 2010, where he leads the manuscripts team with responsibility for the appraisal, researching, cataloguing and marketing of medieval and Renaissance and earlier western manuscripts worldwide.

Born in Florence and raised in Naples, he read for undergraduate, Master’s and doctoral degrees at Oxford University. Career highlights include the sale of the Rothschild Prayerbook ($13.6m, the world record at auction for an illuminated manuscript, January 2014); the Carolingian ‘Gospels of Queen Theutberga’ (£1.99m, July 2015); the lavishly illuminated Almanac Hours (£1.63m, July 2020); a sumptuous Book of Hours by the Master of the Paris Bartholomeus Anglicus ($3.6m, April 2021); and the Crosby-Schøyen Codex, one of the oldest books in existence (£3.06m, June 2024).

Notable collection sales have included the Arcana Collection of Exceptional Illuminated Manuscripts (London, 2010-11); the stunning group of manuscripts in Yates, Thompson and Bright: a Family of Bibliophiles (London, 16 July 2014), the collection of Maurice Burrus (London, 25 May 2016); the extraordinary illuminated manuscripts and printed books from the collection of Elaine and Alexandre Rosenberg (New York, 23 April 2021); and the world heritage manuscripts offered in Manuscript Masterpieces from the Schøyen Collection (London, 11 June 2024).

Over the past 15 years Eugenio has negotiated a significant number of multi-million pound private sales of medieval and Renaissance manuscripts to clients in Europe, the UK and the Americas: most significantly the Clumber Park Chartier (now in the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library) and the Breviary of Saint-Louis de Poissy (now in the Bibliothèque nationale de France).

Eugenio is one of Christie’s international auctioneers and takes sales in London, Paris and New York. He is a Fellow and Visiting Committee member of the Morgan Library and a member of the Bibliographical Society. He plays in a much-loved – if terrible – rock band, will offer unsolicited advice on anything food-related and is trilingual in English, Italian and French. He also reads Latin and Ancient Greek.
Sophie Meadows
Senior Specialist
London
Call+44 (0) 20 7752 3144
E-mailsmeadows@christies.com
Sophie joined Christie’s in 2013 as specialist in medieval & Renaissance manuscripts, autograph letters, and archives. In 2025, after deciding that roughly 1,000 years of handwritten history wasn’t enough to contend with, her remit expanded to include printed books, becoming the only specialist internationally to work across all fields. Since 2019, she has been Head of Private Sales for the International Books and Manuscripts department, coordinating record-breaking years in London, Paris and New York and contributing to millions of pounds’ worth of private sales to individuals and institutions.

Sophie has had the pleasure of leading sales as diverse as the Metropolitan Opera Guild Collection of musical manuscripts and memorabilia (New York, 2017) and ‘Quentin Blake: A Retrospective’, an auction of works from Sir Quentin Blake’s personal collection sold to benefit charity (London, 2018), as well as working on the exceptional illuminated manuscripts from the collection of Elaine and Alexandre Rosenberg (New York, 2021). A recent favourite was ‘The Alphabet of Genius’ (London, 2023), a landmark sale of autographs which set new records in the field, from art (Saint-Exupéry) to science (Edmond Halley). In private sales, Sophie has sold works from a wide range of authors, reflecting her broad interests: from English literature (Keats) to science (Charles Darwin), with an emphasis on female authorship (Elizabeth Barrett Browning to Caroline Herschel).

Sophie has extensive experience in the valuation and sale of archives, both by private treaty sale and through the Acceptance in Lieu process: major sales have included the architectural archive of Sir Denys Lasdun (including original models for the National Theatre), the working archive of the much-loved children's author Shirley Hughes, and the family archives of the Barons Braybrooke, Earls of Dudley, and Marquesses of Londonderry.
Mark Wiltshire
Specialist
London
E-mailmwiltshire@christies.com
Mark has over a decade’s experience in rare books and has been responsible for important sales in the fields of science, fiction, and science fiction, having set the record price for a work by a female scientist (Ada Lovelace’s Sketch of the Analytical Engine; £212,500), and overseen successful auctions including First Editions, Second Thoughts: An Auction in Support of English PEN (July 2022), Charlie Watts: Gentleman, Collector, Rolling Stone (September 2023), and Science Fiction and Fantasy (December 2024). In private sales, he has sold works by writers including Jane Austen, Victor Hugo, and Robert Burns, as well as several fine and inscribed copies of the first edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. He was a co-curator of the Loan and Private Selling exhibition The Art of Literature in 2022, which brought together masterpieces like Shakespeare’s First Folio (1623), T. S. Eliot’s The Waste Land (1922), and pictures by artists including Rubens and Picasso. Mark holds degrees from the Universities of York and Oxford, where he specialised in the works of the Romantic poets, and has lectured on the life and poetry of his beloved John Keats.
Eleonora Pontiggia
Business Development Associate
London
Call+44 782 351 5773
E-mailepontiggia@christies.com
Eleonora is a Business Development Associate in the Books and Manuscripts Department, where she supports business development, valuations, cataloguing, client management, and auction preparation. She works closely with clients and colleagues across Christie’s global network to source property, develop new business opportunities, and deliver successful sales.

Before joining the department, Eleonora held roles across Christie’s specialising in valuations, cataloguing, provenance research, market analysis, and client development in the fields of rare books, manuscripts, and Old Master paintings.
Thais Hitchins
Associate Specialist
London
Call+44 (0) 777 138 0779
E-mailthitchins@christies.com
Phoebe Putnam
Sale coordinator
London
Call+44 (0) 743 609 5235
E-mailpputnam@christies.com
Christina Geiger
Head of Department
New York
Call+1 212 636 2667
E-mailcgeiger@christies.com
Christina Geiger began her career as a Books specialist at Christie’s New York in 2000 and worked at Christie’s East and Rockefeller Center over a banner two years which included several landmark sales. She then spent four years at a specialty books and manuscripts auction house in California before returning to the East Coast in 2006 where she became Director of the New York Books & Manuscripts department for a leading international auction house. She became the principal specialist for both the highest-grossing single-owner sale in that department’s history, American Experience: 1630-1890 at $4 million; and the highest-grossing printed book, the 1476 Aristotle de Animalibus on vellum at $940K. Since rejoining Christie’s in 2016, notable sales in New York have included the world record-holding copies of both Newton’s Principia and Shakespeare’s First Folio, the Portland set of Audubon’s Birds of America, the Einstein “God Letter,” and the Columbus Letter sold in 2023.

She headed the auction sales of the Private Collection of William S. Reese, the late, renowned Americanist of New Haven. The Reese sales totaled over $20 million across multiple auctions in 2022 and 2023. She has also taken leadership roles in the auctions of the Martin Greene Library of Russian America and Polar Exploration; Illuminated Manuscripts and Early Printed Books from the Collection of Elaine and Alexandre Rosenberg; the Exceptional Literature Collection of Theodore B. Baum; Valuable and Important Books and Manuscripts from the Library of Edward R. Leahy; and Part One of the Magnificent Library of Norman Bobins.

While Christina finds the exhilaration of auction strategy and achievement to be deeply satisfying, she also relies on steady involvement with bookish not-for-profits to balance her business life. She is a past Council Member of the Bibliographical Society of America (2012-2016), a special event auctioneer for the Center for Book Arts, and an active member of the Grolier Club, America’s oldest and largest society for bibliophiles. She is a past Council Member of both the Bibliographical Society of America (2012-2016) and past Council Member and Secretary of the Grolier Club. She is a current board member of the Book Club of California.
Peter Klarnet
Senior Specialist, Americana
New York
Call+1 212 636 2668
E-mailpklarnet@christies.com
Peter joined Christies in 2016 after twenty years working with manuscript Americana, spending the first portion of his career cataloging for, and later managing, a Connecticut auction house specializing in historical autographs. In 2005 he left that firm to pursue opportunities as a consultant, agent and dealer. Although his primary interests center on early America, especially the American Revolution and Early Republic, Peter has appraised, cataloged and sold a wide range of material from the 17th to the 20th centuries.

Since joining Christie's, Peter has worked with many important collections including the papers of the Marquis de Chastellux, The Private Collection of President and Mrs. Reagan, The Findlay-Wright Papers, the Roger Judd Collection of American Historical Autographs, the Louisiana Purchase Collection of A. J. Tullock, The Collection of Lee Bouvier Radziwill, The Private Collection of William S. Reese, The Birth of Wikipedia, The Papers of Richard N. Goodwin, and most recently, DJ Kool Herc and the Birth of Hip Hop and The Collection of André Leon Talley. Some of Peter’s more prominent auction records include the sale of the Albert Einstein God Letter, bringing $2.89 million—a world record for an Einstein letter at auction; the unique Ionic Original disc of Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind” (£1.48m); and most recently the Arizona Spike: one of four presentation spikes presented at the ceremony marking the completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869 ($2.22m). Peter holds a B.A. in History from Antioch College, and a M.A. in History from the University of Delaware with a certificate in museum studies. He has curated several exhibits including a major exhibition at Federal Hall in New York celebrating the bicentennial of the birth of Abraham Lincoln in 2009.
Dr. Jonah Rosenberg
Specialist
New York
Call+1 (212) 6362154
E-mailJRosenberg@christies.com
Jonah joined the department as a specialist in 2026 after a dozen years in the New York book and map trade, roughly concurrent with the same number of years teaching art history (as well as pottery) in the U.K. and U.S at the undergraduate and graduate levels. He completed his doctorate (D.Phil) on emotional naturalism in late archaic and early classical Greek art in 2012 at St John's College, Oxford, following an A.B. in Classics (Greek & Latin) from Brown University.

Jonah is president of the New York Map Society, and has served on the board of the Center for Contemporary Opera. He’s a member of the Grolier Club and of ICOM and was, briefly, an associate member of the ABAA. A Queens native, Jonah lives in New York with his husband, Leon, a British visual artist.
Charles Tolkien-Gillett
Junior Specialist
New York
Call+1 212 636 2664
E-mailctolkien-gillett@christies.com
Charles joined Christie’s in 2024 with a focus on early printing, after previously working in the book trade and as a private book consultant.

With expertise in the 15th century, the first century of printing, Charles has been responsible for cataloguing and selling renowned collections of incunabula and early books including from the libraries of Phyllis Goodhart Gordan and Dr. Eugene S. Flamm, each achieving over $1m at auction. Particular favourites have been: Artistotle’s De animalibus, the first printed book on biology ($279k, 2025); Langland’s Piers Plowman ($95k, 2025), the record price for a first edition of the text; leaves from Gutenberg’s press; the second edition of Isidore of Seville’s Etymologiae, containing the second map ever printed ($75K, 2025); and fine bindings from the libraries of Thomas Mahieu and Jean Grolier.

Beyond the medieval, Charles is especially interested in 20th-century art, science and literature. He was responsible for the sales of the first David Wojnarowicz letters to appear at auction and the first Gregory Rabassa letters. Charles works closely on cross-department Private & Iconic Collections, which have included: Paul Allen’s NASA collection featuring Buzz Aldrin’s Apollo 11 flightsuit; the design library of Mica Ertegun; and artwork from Maurice Sendak’s archive. As a composer, he enjoys working on musical material and is particularly knowledgeable on the life and works of Philip Glass.

An alumnus of King’s College London and the University of Oxford, Charles has also studied with the University of Iceland and the Juilliard School. Charles maintains ties across the Atlantic as a member of the Grolier Club, the Bibliographical Society, the Bibliographical Society of America and the Early English Text Society.
Andrew Darlington
Senior Sale Coordinator
New York
Call+1 212 636 2111
E-mailADarlington@christies.com
Annie Roddy
Sale Coordinator, Cataloguer
New York
Call+1 212 636 2145
E-mailaroddy@christies.com
Adrien Legendre
Head of Department
Paris
Call+33 (0)1 40 76 83 74
E-mailalegendre@christies.com
After graduating from the Sorbonne in 2005 with a degree in History, Adrien Legendre joined a prestigious Parisian book dealer, then the Books department of an international auction house, spending 5 years in Paris and 4 subsequent years in New York.

In July 2017, Adrien joined Christie’s as the Head of the Books and Manuscripts department in Paris. He led with success the sale the Baroness Thysen-Bornemiza collection in 2017, the Juan de Besteigui collection in 2018 (€1,970,625, with 100% of lots sold), the Marc Litzler collection in 2019 (€4,401,375), The Paul Destribats Bibliothèque des Avant-Gardes part 1 in 2019 (€8,116,812), The Alfred Cortot collection in 2019 (€1,839,000), The Library of Martine de Behague and the Counts of Ganay, part 1 in 2019 (€1,641,250), The Paul Destribats Bibliothèque des Avant-Gardes part 2 (€2,171,425, with 100% of lots sold).

Thanks to his international experience, Adrien secured major consignments for the London and New York sales, including the Declaration Of Independence (Stone, 1823), which sold for US$852,500 in 2018.
Vincent Belloy
Specialist
Paris
Call+33 (0) 1 40 76 84 39
E-mailvbelloy@christies.com
Vincent Belloy is a Specialist in the Books and Manuscript department at Christie’s Paris. With two master's degrees from the Sorbonne where he studied Medieval History and Art, with a special focus on heraldry and the history of colours, he joined Christie’s in 2016. Since then, Vincent has contributed to major successes, including the sales of the collections of Juan de Beistegui (totalling €1,970,000 with 100% of lots sold for the books section), Marc Litzler (€4,400,000), Alfred Cortot, Martine de Béhague and the Counts of Ganay and Paul Destribats (with a running total of €13,900,000 after the first three parts).
Roxane Ricros
Co-head of sale
Paris
Call+33 (0)1 40 76 86 23
E-mailRRicros@christies.com
After two years of preparatory class with a special focus on Literature and Philosophy, Roxane Ricros graduated with two Master's degrees in Business and Law, that she obtained with Honors for her Master's thesis on the French art market law. She also studied Art History at L'Ecole du Louvre while working at the Books department of a major French auction house. Roxane joined Christie's in 2022 as a Cataloguer in the Books and Manuscripts department in Paris, and has since then contributed to major successes including The Paul Destribats Bibliothèque des Avant-Gardes part 5 (€2,240,809).
Georgina Hilton
Head of Classic Art, Asia Pacific
Hong Kong
Call+852 2978 6862
E-mailghilton@christies.com
Georgina is responsible for developing the market and taste for European Classical Art across Asia. Prior to moving to Hong Kong in 2019, Georgina was in the Old Master Paintings department in London. She is also a global Christie’s Auctioneer, taking flagship sales in Hong Kong, New York and London.
Melody Lin
Associate Vice President, Senior Representative Classic Art Group, Asia Pacific
Hong Kong
Call+852 2978 6850
E-mailmelodylin@christies.com
Melody is responsible for expanding the market and interest of Western Classical Art in Asia, focusing on the International highlights tour and educational panels in Hong Kong, Taipei and mainland China. She joined Christie’s through the Graduate Trainee Program in 2018, and officially joined Classic Art Group in 2019. Melody was involved in number of major sales such as the Portrait of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart at the age of 13 in Verona, Leonardo da Vinci The Head of a Bear, and rare manuscripts by Isaac Newton.

Loading component...

Latest stories

View All

Photographed at the Paris atelier of Feau Boiseries, works offered in The Exceptional Sale on 3 November 2026, Livres rares et Manuscrits and Maitres Anciens: Peintures - Dessins - Sculptures at Christie's in Paris

29 Oct 2026

Christie’s meets Féau Boiseries: a ‘truly magical’ combination

27 Oct 2026

An Alchemy of Ideas: Works from the Mickey Cartin Collection

31 Aug 2026

Must-see New York City museum exhibitions this fall

Loading component...

Buying and selling

How to buy

Buying at Christie’s has never been easier or more accessible, whether you want to attend a live auction, bid online or purchase directly from our Private Sales service.

How to sell

Selling your art or object at Christie’s is a smooth experience. We’ll dedicate our global network and art market expertise to get the best price for your item.

Frequently asked questions

Need help? Find your answers in our list of frequently asked questions — from online account creation to buying, selling and Private Sales.

Loading component...

Sign up for updates on Books and Manuscripts auctions and exhibitions

Loading component...

Christina Geiger

Head of Department

New York

Call

E-mail

Christina Geiger began her career as a Books specialist at Christie’s New York in 2000 and worked at Christie’s East and Rockefeller Center over a banner two years which included several landmark sales. She then spent four years at a specialty books and manuscripts auction house in California before returning to the East Coast in 2006 where she became Director of the New York Books & Manuscripts department for a leading international auction house. She became the principal specialist for both the highest-grossing single-owner sale in that department’s history, American Experience: 1630-1890 at $4 million; and the highest-grossing printed book, the 1476 Aristotle de Animalibus on vellum at $940K. Since rejoining Christie’s in 2016, notable sales in New York have included the world record-holding copies of both Newton’s Principia and Shakespeare’s First Folio, the Portland set of Audubon’s Birds of America, the Einstein “God Letter,” and the Columbus Letter sold in 2023.

She headed the auction sales of the Private Collection of William S. Reese, the late, renowned Americanist of New Haven. The Reese sales totaled over $20 million across multiple auctions in 2022 and 2023. She has also taken leadership roles in the auctions of the Martin Greene Library of Russian America and Polar Exploration; Illuminated Manuscripts and Early Printed Books from the Collection of Elaine and Alexandre Rosenberg; the Exceptional Literature Collection of Theodore B. Baum; Valuable and Important Books and Manuscripts from the Library of Edward R. Leahy; and Part One of the Magnificent Library of Norman Bobins.

While Christina finds the exhilaration of auction strategy and achievement to be deeply satisfying, she also relies on steady involvement with bookish not-for-profits to balance her business life. She is a past Council Member of the Bibliographical Society of America (2012-2016), a special event auctioneer for the Center for Book Arts, and an active member of the Grolier Club, America’s oldest and largest society for bibliophiles. She is a past Council Member of both the Bibliographical Society of America (2012-2016) and past Council Member and Secretary of the Grolier Club. She is a current board member of the Book Club of California.

Loading component...

Books and Manuscripts

Upcoming auctions

Love and Lust: A Literary Guide

Love and Lust: A Literary Guide

Loading component...

Contact us

Loading component...

Request an estimate

Latest stories

Loading component...

Why wait for the next auction?

Loading component...

Buying and selling

Loading component...

Sign up for updates on Books and Manuscripts auctions and exhibitions

Loading component...

Loading component...

Upcoming auctions

Love and Lust: A Literary Guide

Love and Lust: A Literary Guide

Contact us

Latest stories

Why wait for the next auction?

Buying and selling

Sign up for updates on Books and Manuscripts auctions and exhibitions