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 Tory politician and a Member of Parliament (MP) for Beverley from 1784 to 1790. He was the only son of Reverend Sir Mark Sykes, 1st Baronet, minister of R ...

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 located in the village of Sledmere, between Driffi ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

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

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

. He matriculated at

Brasenose College, Oxford Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the 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 library and chapel were added in the mi ...

, on 10 May 1788. In 1795 he served as High Sheriff of Yorkshire, 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, 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 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, which could be circulated only after being copied by hand. For ...

'', ''

incunabula In the history of printing, an incunable or incunabulum (plural incunables or incunabula, respectively), is a book, pamphlet, or broadside that was printed in the earliest stages of printing in Europe, up to the year 1500. Incunabula were pro ...

'', 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 Coleshi ...

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

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Ancient Rome, 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 traditiona ...

, 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 an, Borja ; ca-valencia, Borja ) was an Italian-Aragonese Spanish noble family, which rose to prominence during the Italian Renaissance. They were from Valencia, the surname being a toponymic from the town ...

family, is the only copy on

vellum Vellum is prepared animal skin or membrane, typically used as writing material. Parchment is another term for this material, from which vellum is sometimes distinguished, when it is made from calfskin, as opposed to that made from other anima ...

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 Wyndh ...

who bequeathed it to the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

. 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 belonge ...

. Sykes was a member of the

Roxburghe Club The Roxburghe Club is a bibliophilic and publishing society based in the United Kingdom. Origins The spur to the Club's foundation was the sale of the enormous library of the Duke of Roxburghe (who had died in 1804), which took place over 46 days ...

, to which he presented a reprint of some of John Lydgate'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, in Florence – 7 March 1815, in Lisbon) was an Italian engraver, whose most productive period was spent in London. He is noted for popularizing the "crayon" method of engraving. Early life Ba ...

'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 the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, England, about 3 miles (5 km) east of Malton. It was historically part of the East Riding of Yorkshire until 1974. History Sir Francis Bigod of Settringt ...

, 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 an historic 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 of . It is a popular visitor attr ...

; 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