The sacred duty to get it right -- a profile of Roy Davids by Michael Holman published in Antiques Trade Gazette, 11 November 2000. Despite my blushes, I thought clients might like to see it.

If asked to name Roy Davids's main characteristic, I should reply 'enthusiasm' - in particular enthusiasm for his chosen way of life. It shines through him and when he gets into full swing he is hard to stop. Ideas and controversial statements, often with a cutting edge, simply flow out of him.

The way of life that consumes his whole being is dealing in manuscripts and literary portraits, though he has extended his sphere to include portraits of all kinds and in any medium, as well as artefacts and anything owned by or having relevance to people of importance down the centuries.

For instance, a 14th century manuscript interests him as much as did the papers of the late President Nixon which he valued for the Nixon family.

His life in the book trade began in 1968 when he worked for Hofmann & Freeman for two years, having studied history. In 1970, they "loaned" him to Sotheby's to catalogue [part of] the collection of Sir Thomas Phillipps. After a year he was asked to become full time with a salary increase of £50 per annum!

He progressed rapidly. By 1975 he was head of the manuscript department and by 1982 he was leading both the manuscript and book departments. Along the way, in 1977, he began to take sales.

Rostrum work is like watching a duck swimming - all is calm and serene on the surface, but the paddling underneath is intense. In Roy's case a lot of the paddling was done in advance with his research ensuring that what he presented through his catalogues was as right as it possibly could be.

He says that research still gives him the most pleasure - more than buying or selling - and that he constantly strives to explore, explain and present correctly anything he deals with. "Experts have a sacred duty to get it right," he says.

Oh that they all felt that way!

There was a time when he devoted so much of his time to Sotheby's that he did not have a weekend off for three years and his responsibilities grew. In 1987 he became marketing director of Sotheby's., in 1992 head of communications and in 1993 head of company strategy [actually company strategist] - roles he fulfilled alongside his duties in the book and manuscript departments.

His devotion to Sotheby's came to an end in 1994. He found himelf unable to work with Dede Brooks, the then chief executive, but he had [/won] a generous settlement and, by realising his shares in the company, he was able to start his own business at the high level he aspired to.

By the time he issued his fourth catalogue in 1998, his list included, among other delights, letters from Verdi, Wagner, Elgar, Trotsky and one from the Earl of Southampton in the Tower, as well as the contract for the Scottish settlement of Canada in 1622, Burton and Speke's gold medal and so on.

He now searches for material worldwide and sells just as widely, though at least half tends to find a home in the United States.

"If an item were found to be not as described, it would be accepted back at once," he insists, "though this has never happened yet," he adds. "I would have a [profound] sense of self-mortification if something turned out to be wrong."

As a consultant, he has been involved with several important archives apart from the Nixon papers already mentioned, among them those of Sir Winston Churchill and Ted Hughes. Whoever the papers relate to, he stresses the immediacy of the handwritten word as a source: "Manuscripts are the true artefacts of historians, and letters are the next best thing to hearing the person speak," he explains.

His personal pleasure is in collecting poetical manuscripts and his collection is probably unequalled in private hands.

He is a man of original thoughts and opinions and these are strongly voiced when necessary as he performs, with equally characteristic pleasure and enthusiasm, an enviable and ultimately important task in the world of historical research.

Michael Holman