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An extremely rare 16th-century map which a Dutch cartographer celebrates English adventures.

Daniel Crouch Rare Books, the London-based merchant of maps, atlases, and other high-end cartographic items, recently released their Catalogue IV. This is a thick, 127-page tall volume offering just 25 items. Naturally, these are all very special selections. With an average of five pages each, the descriptions are thorough, the illustrations copious. For anyone who collects maps at the highest level, the catalogue is a must. Here are a few of the pieces being offered.

This year, forthe second time, London drawings dealer Stephen Ongpin is one of the 17 exhibitors in the upstairs TEFAF Paper section, which was introduced three years ago and encompasses books, maps and photography as well as watercolours, prints and drawings.

The European Fine Art Fair (Tefaf) brings together a huge array of works, from classical antiquities to contemporary art, with everything from jewellery to armour and antique wallpaper in between. The Art Newspaper spoke to scholars, dealers and auction experts – as well as members of each vetting committee – to produce a brief, introductory guide to some of the key objects and fields you will find under Tefaf’s roof.

200 members of the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America (ABAA) and the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB) from around the globe will exhibit their wares at the largest rare and antiquarian book fair in the world this coming weekend, February 10-12, at the 45th California International Antiquarian Book Fair, held in the new Pasadena Convention Center in Pasadena, California.

Daniel Crouch Rare Books, leading specialist in rare maps and atlases, will be exhibiting two fine and rare cartographic works at the Miami International Map Fair, by Ptolemy, and Jesuit monk Ferdinand Verbiest.

The enduring appeal of beautifully-produced atlases, books and maps is seen in the launch of Mayfair-based Daniel Crouch Rare Books’ new website, which has been created as an archive of the exquisite rare and antique printed artworks that have passed through the company.

Maps offer slices of the history of our ever-changing capital and Daniel Crouch has myriad rare examples on offer, says Godfrey Barker.

Mayfair based Daniel Crouch Rare Books has launched a new website, created in collaboration with design agency William Joseph.

Daniel Crouch Rare Books has just issued their Catalogue III, Mapping London. Crouch is a specialist in maps and the associated types of material, such as sea charts, plans, atlases and globes. They focus on antiquarian examples, though there are a few items this time that make it into the last century. In this catalogue, Crouch has centered on one small corner of the globe, the city of London, and occasionally, a few miles of surrounding lands. Since most maps are targeted right on the city, as it follows the banks and bend in the River Thames, thumbing through this catalogue gives a bird’s eye view of how much the city has grown over the four centuries from the 15th through the 19th century. Naturally, a current map would show much greater expansion still, but London looks barely more than a large village 400 to 500 years ago.

The Rudimentum Novitiorum, 1475, centred on the Holy Land, is the world’s first printed map (all previous being manuscripts). From: crouchrarebooks.com

Resolved to read more this year? Ianthe Butt finds much to tempt in London’s quirkiest independent bookstores.