Daniel Crouch of Daniel Crouch Rare Books

What do you deal in?
Rare atlases, maps, charts, voyages and globes.

2. How long have you been dealing?
Twenty years. Two months under my own name.

3. Do you do any fairs?
I have just finished the International Fine Art & Antiques Dealers Show, New York and we are planning our schedule for 2011.

4. First job?
As a map seller at Sanders of Oxford when I was still at school.

5. Best thing about being a dealer?
I get to do my hobby for a job.

6. And the worst?
The mileage.

7. Biggest mistake?
An ill-judged joke that cost me a good customer and a friend.

8. What is your dream object?
In my case a dream come true. After a visit to the Royal Geographic Society when I was 17, I had a dream about finding a copy of Matteo Ricci’s majestic world map of 1602. I sold one to the James Ford Bell Library in Minnesota last year.

9. Finest hour?
Buying the Gestetner collection of sea atlases and voyages: the content of Catalogue 1 (out now!).

10. Guiltiest pleasure?
Getting high on my own supply. I am an obsessive collector of maps, books and prints relating to Oxford and Oxfordshire.