Sir Mark Masterman-Sykes, 3rd Baronet (20 August 1771 – 16 February 1823), born Mark Sykes, was an English landowner and politician, known as a book-collector. Mark Masterman Sykes

Life

He was eldest son of

Sir Christopher Sykes, 2nd Baronet Sir Christopher Sykes, 2nd Baronet (23 May 1749 – 17 September 1801) was an English British Tory Party, Tory politician and a Member of Parliament (MP) for Beverley (UK Parliament constituency), Beverley from 1784 to 1790. He was the only s ...

Sledmere House Sledmere House is a Grade I listed Georgian country house, containing Chippendale, Sheraton and French furnishings and many fine pictures, set within a park designed by Capability Brown. It is the ancestral home of the Sykes family and is ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

, by his wife Elizabeth (d. 1803), daughter of William Tatton of Withenshaw,

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

. He matriculated at

Brasenose College, Oxford Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The l ...

, on 10 May 1788. In 1795 he served as

High Sheriff of Yorkshire The Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilities associated with the post have been transferred elsewhere o ...

, and in September 1801 succeeded on the death of his father to the baronetcy and estates. On 14 May 1807 Sykes was returned Member of Parliament for the

city of York The City of York, officially simply "York", is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England. ...

, and retained his seat until 1820, when he retired on account of ill health. He died without issue at Weymouth, and was succeeded by his brother,

Sir Tatton Sykes, 4th Baronet Sir Tatton Sykes, 4th Baronet (1772–1863) was an English landowner and stock breeder, known as a patron of horse racing. Life A younger brother of Sir Mark Masterman Sykes, he was educated from 1784 at Westminster School. Matriculating at Bras ...

Collector

Sykes was famous as a bibliophile, and possessed a major private library, rich in ''

editiones principes In textual and classical scholarship, the ''editio princeps'' (plural: ''editiones principes'') of a work is the first printed edition of the work, that previously had existed only in manuscripts. These had to be copied by hand in order to circula ...

'', ''

incunabula An incunable or incunabulum (: incunables or incunabula, respectively) is a book, pamphlet, or broadside (printing), broadside that was printed in the earliest stages of printing in Europe, up to the year 1500. The specific date is essentiall ...

'', and Elizabethan poetry. There were manuscripts, including a copy of

William Dugdale Sir William Dugdale (12 September 1605 – 10 February 1686) was an English antiquary and herald. As a scholar he was influential in the development of medieval history as an academic subject. Life Dugdale was born at Shustoke, near Colesh ...

's ''Heraldic Visitation of York, 1665–1666''. The ''

editio princeps In Textual scholarship, textual and classical scholarship, the ''editio princeps'' (plural: ''editiones principes'') of a work is the first printed edition of the work, that previously had existed only in manuscripts. These had to be copied by han ...

'' of

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding i ...

, by

Arnold Pannartz and Konrad Sweynheim Arnold Pannartz and Conrad Sweynheym were two printers of the 15th century, associated with Johannes Gutenberg and the use of his invention, the mechanical movable-type printing press. Backgrounds Arnold Pannartz was, perhaps, a native of Prague ...

(Rome, 1469), with painted arms of the

Borgia The House of Borgia ( ; ; Spanish and ; ) was a Spanish noble family, which rose to prominence during the Italian Renaissance. They were from Xàtiva, Kingdom of Valencia, the surname being a toponymic from the town of Borja, then in the Cro ...

family, is the only copy on

vellum Vellum is prepared animal skin or membrane, typically used as writing material. It is often distinguished from parchment, either by being made from calfskin (rather than the skin of other animals), or simply by being of a higher quality. Vellu ...

extant, and after Sykes's death passed to

Thomas Grenville Thomas Grenville (31 December 1755 – 17 December 1846) was a British politician and bibliophile. Background and education Grenville was the second son of Prime Minister George Grenville and Elizabeth Wyndham, daughter of Sir William Wyn ...

who bequeathed it to the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

. A catalogue of the library was prepared by

Henry John Todd Henry John Todd (1763–1845) was an English Anglican cleric, librarian, and scholar, known as an editor of John Milton. He was librarian at Lambeth Palace (1803), and examined and described manuscripts, chiefly biblical, which formerly belonged ...

. He also owned a

Gutenberg Bible The Gutenberg Bible, also known as the 42-line Bible, the Mazarin Bible or the B42, was the earliest major book printed in Europe using mass-produced metal movable type. It marked the start of the "Printing Revolution, Gutenberg Revolution" an ...

that is now in the

Morgan Library The Morgan Library & Museum (originally known as the Pierpont Morgan Library and colloquially known the Morgan) is a museum and research library in New York City, New York, U.S. Completed in 1906 as the private library of the banker J. P. Morg ...

. Sykes was a member of the

Roxburghe Club The Roxburghe Club is a Bibliophilia, bibliophilic and Text publication society, publishing society based in the United Kingdom. Origins The spur to the Club's foundation was the sale of the enormous library of the John Ker, 3rd Duke of Roxburghe ...

, to which he presented a reprint of some of

John Lydgate John Lydgate of Bury () was an English monk and poet, born in Lidgate, near Haverhill, Suffolk, Haverhill, Suffolk, England. Lydgate's poetic output is prodigious, amounting, at a conservative count, to about 145,000 lines. He explored and estab ...

's poems in 1818. He also collected pictures, bronzes, coins, medals, and prints (with a complete set of

Francesco Bartolozzi __NOTOC__ Francesco Bartolozzi (21 September 1727 – 7 March 1815) was an Italian engraver, whose most productive period was spent in London. He is noted for popularizing the "crayon" method of engraving. Early life Bartolozzi was born in Flo ...

's engravings, comprising his proofs and etchings). All his collections were dispersed by sale in 1824. His library fetched nearly £10,000, and his pictures nearly £6,000.

Family

Sykes was twice married: firstly, on 11 November 1795, to Henrietta, daughter and heiress of Henry Masterman of

Settrington Settrington is a village and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England, about 3 miles (5 km) east of Malton. It was historically part of the East Riding of Yorkshire until 1974 and part of the Ryedale district from 1974 until 2023. History ...

, Yorkshire, on which occasion he took the additional name of Masterman; she died in July 1813. On 2 August 1814 he married, secondly, Mary Elizabeth, daughter of William Tatton Egerton and sister of Wilbraham Tatton Egerton of

Tatton Park Tatton Park is a historic Estate (house), estate in Cheshire, England, north of the town of Knutsford. It contains a mansion, Tatton Hall; a medieval manor house, Tatton Old Hall; Tatton Park Gardens, a farm and a Deer park (England), deer park o ...

; she survived him, dying in October 1846.

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Masterman-Sykes, Mark 1771 births 1823 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of Great Britain Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies UK MPs 1807–1812 UK MPs 1812–1818 UK MPs 1818–1820 High sheriffs of Yorkshire East York Militia officers Sykes family