Hello friends and welcome once again to the history page. This week our topic is not an historical event, but rather a one-man institution by the name of Martin Davies. Many of our regular readers are already familiar with Davies's encyclopaedic knowledge of history, literature, art, architecture and culture in all of its manifestations. This intellectual maven is our trouble-shooter here at Ibiza History Culture, and, when faced with difficult queries from readers, we automatically pass them on to him.

All About Martin

One of Davies's most endearing habits is that he always brings a bag of books with him whenever he calls round to someone's house or office. Not a carrier bag, mind - a sports bag, full of rare volumes, magazines, Internet print-outs, photographs and sundry study materials - all thoughtfully provided for the delight and erudition of his hosts. Once, at a party, he made me wash my hands before allowing me handle a particular art book. It was a limited edition as well as a personal gift to him from London's V&A Library, making the volume doubly valuable. His precaution was understandable, for the book's cover was bound with pure silk and its pages were of such an extraordinary creamy quality that any stray mark would have defiled it.

Like Erasmus, Davies spends most of his salary on books. If there is anything leftover, he buys food. Not surprisingly, he is quite thin, as any book is game for his biblomania. He is just as likely to buy a children's book as he is to buy an in-depth treatise on ancient pagan religion. He recently bought the Usborne's Book of World History (miniature edition), despite the fact that he read history at Oxford. "It's quite a well done book," he explains, justifying the whim.

Any book that strikes Davies as well-made, well-thought out or well-presented will sooner or later end up on the shelves of his well-stocked library. A single book-buying spree may see him emerging from the shop, bleary-eyed, with a mind-bending (and perhaps 'spine-bending') selection of tomes ranging from maps of ancient sea-routes to the great works of Rumanian literature. The purchase might also include a few translations of books he already possesses - simply to compare the use of language. A self-help book would probably be tossed in - something along the lines of Ten Keys to Better Punctuation - while The Life and Works of Mozart would comprise his racy weekend reading.

Culturally Varied Childhood

What elevates a person to such lofty realms? The answer, if there is one, probably lies in Davies's childhood. By the age of ten, he had already lived in three different hemispheres of the globe. Born normally enough into a British family in Liverpool, Martin was taken to live in Fiji at the impressionable age of six. His father was a civil engineer whose services were in great demand in several of the British spheres of influence. After three exotic years in the New Hebrides, the family of six returned to Britain (Wales this time) for a six month stint, and then relocated, once again, to Guyana on the northern coast of South America. Martin spent two years there, excelling at school without really meaning to, until the age of eleven, when his parents sent him to St. Chad's prep school in the UK. As a prepubescent child, he was traumatized, but did not let that stand in the way of his continuing academic excellence. From St. Chad's he went on to Shrewsbury public school and, finally, to Oxford University, where, as mentioned earlier, he read history.

Portrait of the Student as a Young Man

By the age of 21, Davies had finished his formal education, but was still undecided as to what career path to follow. He had been awarded a scholarship to do a Masters in Computer Science at Newcastle University, but dropped out after only one month. He realized that computers, while fascinating objects, were not the real love of his life, and found himself, instead, spending all of his free time at the library researching Romanesque architecture. This new interest had been sparked by a recent six-month stint in Germany to sharpen his language skills. But, what really happened (or I should say also happened) is that Davies fell in love with Minden Cathedral, one of Europe's most stunning works of Romanesque architecture.

Davies realized that, in order to pursue the highways and byways of his intellectual yearnings, he should spend every day in a library. The idea struck like lightning: he could study to be a librarian. Without further ado, he enrolled in a librarianship course at the Newcastle Polytechnic, and upon receiving his degree, landed a job at the V&A Library in London (a division of the museum of the same name). During this time, he was able to use and peruse the library to his heart's content, a happy circumstance that gave birth to his first published work, Romanesque Architecture: A Bibliography.

Carried on the Wings of Love

At the age of 33, passion struck. Davies met his future partner, an Ibicenco hairdresser who was vacationing in London, and, a year later, he came to live on the White Island permanently. Since then, he has continued in his characteristic line of writing and research, publishing in 2000 the best-selling photography anthology, Eivissa-Ibiza: One Hundred Years of Light and Shade. He has also contributed to many local publications and is currently preparing, among other projects, a translation of a Norwegian travel log about Ibiza, The Road to San Vicente.

One last note to set the record straight: although he is not the partying kind, Davies has tested out the island's legendary nightlife on more than one occasion (two to be exact), and enthusiastically upholds Ibiza's clubs as the best in the world. "With a mere two visits I have satisfied my clubbing needs for life!" he often quips.

Closing

There is much more to say about Martin Davies, but I will bring my account to a close for this time. My aim was merely to acquaint the readership with this fascinating personality, as he will be taking over for me during the next five weeks. I leave you, then, in the capable hands of this vigorous researcher for a refreshing change of pace. Davies has decided to devote his articles to books (what else?) that have been written about Ibiza during the course of the previous century. Enjoy!

Emily Kaufman

emilykaufman@ibizahistoryculture.com