Christina Geiger: Appointed Head of Books and Manuscripts at Christie's, New York
- by Bruce E. McKinney
Christina Geiger has been appointed to one of the storied positions in the auction world: head of the rare books and manuscripts department at Christie’s in New York. It’s a role in which several men have risen to prominence: Stephen Massey, Francis Wahlgren, and Tom Lecky. Christina is the first woman to take the helm. She leads a team of four other specialists: Senior Americana, Books, and Manuscripts Specialist Peter Klarnet; Junior Specialist Rhiannon Knol; Associate Specialist Heather Weintraub; and her own soon-to-be-appointed replacement as Senior Specialist in Books and Manuscripts.
Christina has spent her entire career in the auction world. A few months after graduating from Williams College in 1996 she became an administrator at Christie’s, working in the image archives. She transitioned to the rare book department four years later—first at Christie’s East and soon afterwards at the then-new offices at Rockefeller Center. In 2002, she moved home to California for a spell, cataloguing and appraising books at PBA Galleries in San Francisco for four years. She was subsequently hired by Bonhams Auctioneers to open their Book Department in New York and led their inaugural New York auction of Fine Books & Manuscripts in December 2006. In 2010, she was principal specialist for the most valuable sale in that department’s history: The American Experience: 1630-1890 consigned by yours truly, Bruce McKinney. After a busy, full decade of auctions at Bonhams, she came back full circle to where she started—at Christie’s New York.
She reflects, “At every stage of my career, I have felt lucky to have one of the most privileged jobs on earth—to handle those special books and manuscripts which speak to the human spirit and human achievement, and to befriend the collectors who share a passion for them. Now, however, I simply cannot imagine it getting any better than this. I am grateful for the incredible legacy of my predecessors in this role, for the powerful resources and leadership currently at Christie’s, and for the support of our inspiring clients. My view is that by continuing to work with diligence, integrity, and love for the property, the team and I will be rewarded with the honor of handling the most interesting material that comes to market. I am deeply looking forward to many years of seeing ‘what is next’ at Christie’s.”
What is next at Christie’s New York in the near future are the three auctions in June 2019 which will mark Christina’s official debut:
Fine Printed Books & Manuscripts including Americana on June 12, for which she is currently inviting consignments
The first ever Online sale to be conducted by the New York Books Department: Write Me and Tell Me Your Heart: Leonard Cohen’s Letters to Marianne. June 5 – June 13.
A Single Lot auction also on June 12, TBA
Christina Geiger lives in Brooklyn, New York with her husband, the documentary cinematographer Liam Dalzell, their ten-year-old son Henry Dalzell, and their dog (beagle-mix), Julie.
Her contact details are:
Christina Geiger
Head of Department
Books & Manuscripts CHRISTIE'S 20 Rockefeller Plaza New York, NY 10020 Phone: 212-636-2667 Email: cgeiger@christies.com
Sotheby’s: The Shem Tov Bible, 1312 | A Masterpiece from the Golden Age of Spain. Sold: 6,960,000 USD
Sotheby’s: Ten Commandments Tablet, 300-800 CE | One of humanity's earliest and most enduring moral codes. Sold: 5,040,000 USD
Sotheby’s: William Blake | Songs of Innocence and of Experience. Sold: 4,320,000 USD
Sotheby’s: The Declaration of Independence | The Holt printing, the only copy in private hands. Sold: 3,360,000 USD
Sotheby's Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
Sotheby’s: Thomas Taylor | The original cover art for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Sold: 1,920,000 USD
Sotheby’s: Machiavelli | Il Principe, a previously unrecorded copy of the book where modern political thought began. Sold: 576,000 GBP
Sotheby’s: Leonardo da Vinci | Trattato della pittura, ca. 1639, a very fine pre-publication manuscript. Sold: 381,000 GBP
Sotheby’s: Henri Matisse | Jazz, Paris 1947, the complete portfolio. Sold: 312,000 EUR
Bonhams, Apr. 8: First report outside of the colonies of the American Revolution, from American accounts. Printed broadsheet, The London Evening-Post, May 30, 1775. $20,000 - $30,000
Bonhams, Apr. 8: Joyce, James. The earliest typescript pages from Finnegans Wake ever to appear at auction, annotated by Joyce, 1923. $30,000 - $50,000
Bonhams, Apr. 8: Joyce's Ulysses, 1923, one of only seven copies known, printed to replace copies destroyed in customs. $10,000 - $15,000
Bonhams, Apr. 8: ATHANASIUS KIRCHER'S COPY, INSCRIBED. Saggi di naturali esperienze fatte nell' Accademia del Cimento, 1667. $2,000 - $3,000
Bonhams, Apr. 8: Bernoulli's Ars conjectandi, 1713. "... first significant book on probability theory." $15,000 - $25,000
Bonhams, Apr. 8: Aristotle's Politica. Oeconomica. 1469. The first printed work on political economy. $80,000 - $120,000
Bonhams, Apr. 8: John Graunt's Natural and political observations...., 1662. The first printed work of epidemiology and demographics. $20,000 - $30,000
Bonhams, Apr. 8: William Playfair's Commercial and Political Atlas, 1786. The first work to pictorially represent information in graphics. $15,000 - $25,000
Bonhams, Apr. 8: Anson's A Voyage Round the World, 1748. THE J.R. ABBEY-LORD WARDINGTON COPY, BOUND BY JOHN BRINDLEY. $8,000 - $12,000
Bonhams, Apr. 8: La Perouse's Voyage de La Perouse autour du monde..., 1797. LARGE FINE COPY IN ORIGINAL BOARDS. $8,000 - $12,000
Bonhams, Apr. 8: Charles Schulz original 8-panel Peanuts Sunday comic strip, 1992, pen and ink over pencil, featuring Charlie Brown, Snoopy and Lucy as a psychiatrist. $20,000 - $30,000
Dominic Winter Auctioneers
April 9 Printed Books, English Bibles, Maps & Decorative Prints
Dominic Winter, Apr. 9: Johnson (C.). A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the most Notorious Pyrates, 1724. £3,000-4,000
Dominic Winter, Apr. 9: Ordonez de Cevallos (Pedro). Viage del Mundo, 1st edition, Madrid: Luis Sanchez, 1614. £1,000-1,500
Dominic Winter, Apr. 9: North America. Merian (Matthaus), Virginia..., 1627 or later. £1,500-2,500
Dominic Winter Auctioneers
April 9 Printed Books, English Bibles, Maps & Decorative Prints
Dominic Winter, Apr. 9: World. Waldseemuller (Martin), Tabula Nova Totius Orbis, Vienne: 1541. £2,000-3,000
Dominic Winter, Apr. 9: Erasmus (Desiderius). The ... paraphrase of Erasmus... 2 volumes, 1st edition, 1549. £3,000-5,000
Dominic Winter, Apr. 9: Bible [English]. [The Bible and Holy Scriptures conteyned in the Olde and Newe Testament, 1562]. £3,000-5,000
Dominic Winter Auctioneers
April 9 Printed Books, English Bibles, Maps & Decorative Prints
Dominic Winter, Apr. 9: Smith (Lucy). Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith the Prophet, 1st edition, 1853. £1,000-1,500
Dominic Winter, Apr. 9: Derain (Andre). Pantagruel, signed limited edition, Albert Skira, 1943. £2,000-3,000
Dominic Winter, Apr. 9: Austen (Jane). Pride and Prejudice, illustrated by Hugh Thomson, Large Paper edition, 1894. £1,500-2,000
Dominic Winter Auctioneers
April 9 Printed Books, English Bibles, Maps & Decorative Prints
Dominic Winter, Apr. 9: Ellison (Ralph). Invisible Man, 1st edition, New York: Random House, 1952. £200-300
![Dominic Winter, Apr. 9: Bible [English]. [The Bible and Holy Scriptures conteyned in the Olde and Newe Testament, 1562]. £3,000-5,000](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/e47bb03e-3f3d-4f68-9e79-b0b2739ca87c.jpg "<b>Dominic Winter, Apr. 9:</b> Bible [English]. [<i>The Bible and Holy Scriptures conteyned in the Olde and Newe Testament,</i> 1562]. £3,000-5,000")
