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

14 Apr
Live
Dans l'intimité de Pierre Bonnard : Collection Claude Terrasse
Paris
17 Jun - 1 Jul
Online
America at 250: Important Artifacts and Documents of History
New York
18 Jun
Live
Collections du Château de Tournay : La Bibliothèque
Paris
30 Jun
Live
The Exceptional Sale
London
1 Jul
Live
The Jim Irsay Collection: Icons of History
New York
8 Jul
Live
Valuable Books and Manuscripts
London
1 - 13 Oct
Online
Books and Manuscripts
New York

Dans lintimité de Pierre Bonna auction at Christies

14 Apr

Live

Dans l'intimité de Pierre Bonnard : Collection Claude Terrasse

Paris

America at 250: Important Arti auction at Christies

17 Jun - 1 Jul

Online

America at 250: Important Artifacts and Documents of History

New York

Collections du Château de Tour auction at Christies

18 Jun

Live

Collections du Château de Tournay : La Bibliothèque

Paris

The Exceptional Sale auction at Christies

30 Jun

Live

The Exceptional Sale

London

The Jim Irsay Collection: Icon auction at Christies

1 Jul

Live

The Jim Irsay Collection: Icons of History

New York

Valuable Books and Manuscripts auction at Christies

8 Jul

Live

Valuable Books and Manuscripts

London

Books and Manuscripts auction at Christies

1 - 13 Oct

Online

Books and Manuscripts

New York

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Contact us

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

Margaret Ford
International Head of Group, Books & Science
+44 (0) 20 7389 2150
mford@christies.com
London
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
+44 (0)20 7389 2255
tvenning@christies.com
London
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
+44 (0) 20 7389 2152
edonadoni@christies.com
London
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
+44 (0) 20 7752 3144
smeadows@christies.com
London
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
mwiltshire@christies.com
London
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.
Thais Hitchins
Junior Specialist
+44 (0) 7771380779
thitchins@christies.com
London
Emily Pilling
Senior Sale Coordinator
+44 (0) 207 389 2151
epilling@christies.com
London
Christina Geiger
Head of Department
+1 212 636 2667
cgeiger@christies.com
New York
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
+1 212 636 2668
pklarnet@christies.com
New York
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.
Heather Weintraub
Specialist, Books, Manuscripts, & Archives
+1 212 636 2673
hweintraub@christies.com
New York
Heather Weintraub joined Christie's New York as a Specialist in the Books & Manuscripts department in 2017. In this role, she sources, appraises, and catalogues all manner of printed books, literary manuscripts, and archives for auction and private sale.

In her time at Christie's, Heather has contributed to a wide variety of auctions. She helped lead The Exceptional Literature Collection of Theodore B. Baum ($9,657,875, September 2021), which set a record for a printed work by a woman with the first edition of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein in original boards ($1,170,000). In addition to the Shelley, a personal favorite from the sale was a first edition of Jane Austen's Mansfield Park that had contemporary circulating library notes written on the covers. Heather also had the joy of cataloguing many books from The Herman Melville Collection of William S. Reese (September 2022), including a first edition of The Whale in original cloth (realizing $302,400) and Melville's own copy of Dante ($441,000).

Heather holds an A.B. in English from Vassar College, where she concentrated in Medieval and Renaissance Studies. She worked in the New York book trade while pursuing an M.L.S. from Pratt Institute with a certificate in Archives and a concentration in Special Collections. She is currently a member of the Grolier Club, where she serves on the Publications Committee.
Andrew Darlington
Senior Sale Coordinator
+1 212 636 2111
ADarlington@christies.com
New York
Theodore Shields
Sale Coordinator
+1 (212) 484-4896
Tshields@christies.com
New York
Charles Tolkien-Gillett
Junior Specialist
+1 212 636 2664
ctolkien-gillett@christies.com
New York
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.

An alumnus of King’s College London and Merton College, Oxford, Charles has also studied with the University of Iceland and the Juilliard School. His interests concern the history of the English language and its literatures, specifically the reception of Old English texts across the Modern era, as well as the literary culture and political history of Iceland. Charles maintains ties across the Atlantic as a member of the Early English Text Society, the Bibliographical Society of America and the Grolier Club.
Annie Roddy
Sale Coordinator, Cataloguer
+1 212 636 2145
aroddy@christies.com
New York
Adrien Legendre
Head of Department
+33 (0)1 40 76 83 74
alegendre@christies.com
Paris
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
+33 (0) 1 40 76 84 39
vbelloy@christies.com
Paris
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
+33 (0)1 40 76 86 23
RRicros@christies.com
Paris
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
+852 2978 6862
ghilton@christies.com
Hong Kong
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
+852 2978 6850
melodylin@christies.com
Hong Kong
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.

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Latest stories

View All

18 Mar 2026

Generating $94.5 million and 28 world records, The Jim Irsay Collection ranks as the most valuable memorabilia auction in history

From left: Guy le Fevre de la Boderie, La Galliade ou de la Revolution des Arts et Sciences, 1582; Scevole de Sainte-Marthe, Poemata, 1587; Pierre de Ronsard, Les Oeuvres, 1617; Pontus de Tyard, Deux discours de la nature du Monde, and de ses parties, 1578. All offered in La bibliotheque poetique de Jean Paul Barbier-Mueller, 4e partie on 24 March 2026 at Christie's in Paris

5 Mar 2026

A feast of French poetry: the final sale of Jean Paul Barbier-Mueller’s remarkable library

24 Feb 2026

‘It was like going around a brilliant Beatles museum’: inside Jim Irsay’s exceptional collection

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Christina Geiger

Head of Department

+1 212 636 2667

cgeiger@christies.com

New York

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.

Books and Manuscripts

Upcoming auctions

The Exceptional Sale

Valuable Books and Manuscripts

The Exceptional Sale

Valuable Books and Manuscripts

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The Art of Reason | Selling exhibition, New York, 7 April – 15 June

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Upcoming auctions

The Exceptional Sale

Valuable Books and Manuscripts

The Exceptional Sale

Valuable Books and Manuscripts

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Request an estimate

Latest stories

Why wait for the next auction?

Buying and selling