Roger Baynton-Williams, below, and above, a rare early version of John Speed’s map, circa 1605, depicting ‘the severall Battails fought by Sea and Land, at severall times’, which was found and identified by Baynton-Williams
The stand of old maps and prints always seemed out of place amid the glittering displays of the modern and the practical at the Ideal Home Exhibition in London. Yet it was through publicity at venues such as this, year after year, that Roger Baynton-Williams, who has died of prostate cancer aged 74, became a central figure in the growing popularity of this branch of antiques.
Roger helped to turn a Cinderella sector into a mainstream area of collectibles. From the 1960s onwards, antique maps and prints began to adorn walls that had previously seen only landscape paintings. The 17th-century county maps of John Speed, with their elaborate decoration and surrounds of heraldic shields, were, and are, especially prized. Roger's tireless publicity for these maps helped to establish their perennial popularity. Purchasers usually want their own county, so residents of popular Surrey inevitably find their pockets lighter than those of Durham.
Roger's business had to cope not only with facsimiles which were available for a fraction of the price of an original, but also with the common confusion between printed maps and manuscript maps – that an item cannot be an antique if it exists in a number of copies. With his patient explanations, he brought into map collecting those who had never previously considered it.
Jonathan Potter, a past president of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association, found Roger's open approach to customers very appealing. Cathy Slowther, a map specialist at Sotheby's, said: "A lot of people who collect maps today started with Roger. They still quote him."
Roger was part of a cartographic dynasty. He was born in Highgate, north London, and attended Highgate school. His father, Laurence, had already established the family's map-dealing business, having realised that below the level of the popular Speed maps were many cartographers whose work was largely unknown and unconsidered. Laurence felt there wasn't a living for two in the map business, so Roger tried his hand for two weeks as an insurance salesman, and not much longer as a garage mechanic. This career came to a speedy end when the carbolic soap used to wash the cars brought his fair skin out in rashes. At this point, Laurence relented, and in 1954 Roger joined the firm, which was based in South Kensington.
Exhibitions and trade shows were among the ways that Roger blazed the message of old maps as collectibles. For several years, visitors tended to be more interested in coffee grinders than antiques. A convivial man, he would happily talk at length to the most improbable customer. Not uncommonly, that customer left with a map or a print instead of a coffee grinder.
Roger's groundbreaking book, Investing in Maps (published in hardback in 1969 and in paperback two years later), introduced the wider public to the idea that maps could be more than decoration on the wall. The book offered a straightforward and clear account of maps from the 16th century onwards. It sold in huge numbers and has been credited with bringing many new collectors into the field. The publisher insisted on the title, although Roger disliked the monetary emphasis.
He and his wife Margaret had two sons, and were divorced in the early 1970s. Later, he was joined in the business by Sarah Mace, who became his second wife in 1977 and with whom he had two more sons.
The 70s were the heyday of the Baynton-Williams firm. It made a further move, to Belgravia, with substantial staffing, including its own framing department. Roger was a council member of the British Antique Dealers' Association and a committee member of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association.
The recession at the end of the decade savaged the antiques trade. Stuck with premium London rents, Roger and Sarah retrenched to Arundel, West Sussex. Inevitably, this lowered their profile in the antiquarian world, although faithful customers continued to seek them out and, more recently, new customers were found on the internet. Sarah now hopes to continue the business on her own.
Roger went into semi-retirement in 2008. His cancer had already been diagnosed. However, his second book, The Art of the Printmaker 1500-1860, was published in 2009. It was a labour of love, based on a personal collection of prints assembled over many years.
He is survived by Sarah and his sons, Ashley, Miles, Thomas and Edward. Ashley and Miles are both involved with antique maps – as a dealer and a cataloguer respectively.
• Roger Hilaire Baynton-Williams, antiquarian map and print dealer, born 23 December 1936; died 27 July 2011
Roger helped to turn a Cinderella sector into a mainstream area of collectibles. From the 1960s onwards, antique maps and prints began to adorn walls that had previously seen only landscape paintings. The 17th-century county maps of John Speed, with their elaborate decoration and surrounds of heraldic shields, were, and are, especially prized. Roger's tireless publicity for these maps helped to establish their perennial popularity. Purchasers usually want their own county, so residents of popular Surrey inevitably find their pockets lighter than those of Durham.Roger's business had to cope not only with facsimiles which were available for a fraction of the price of an original, but also with the common confusion between printed maps and manuscript maps – that an item cannot be an antique if it exists in a number of copies. With his patient explanations, he brought into map collecting those who had never previously considered it.
Jonathan Potter, a past president of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association, found Roger's open approach to customers very appealing. Cathy Slowther, a map specialist at Sotheby's, said: "A lot of people who collect maps today started with Roger. They still quote him."
Roger was part of a cartographic dynasty. He was born in Highgate, north London, and attended Highgate school. His father, Laurence, had already established the family's map-dealing business, having realised that below the level of the popular Speed maps were many cartographers whose work was largely unknown and unconsidered. Laurence felt there wasn't a living for two in the map business, so Roger tried his hand for two weeks as an insurance salesman, and not much longer as a garage mechanic. This career came to a speedy end when the carbolic soap used to wash the cars brought his fair skin out in rashes. At this point, Laurence relented, and in 1954 Roger joined the firm, which was based in South Kensington.
Exhibitions and trade shows were among the ways that Roger blazed the message of old maps as collectibles. For several years, visitors tended to be more interested in coffee grinders than antiques. A convivial man, he would happily talk at length to the most improbable customer. Not uncommonly, that customer left with a map or a print instead of a coffee grinder.
Roger's groundbreaking book, Investing in Maps (published in hardback in 1969 and in paperback two years later), introduced the wider public to the idea that maps could be more than decoration on the wall. The book offered a straightforward and clear account of maps from the 16th century onwards. It sold in huge numbers and has been credited with bringing many new collectors into the field. The publisher insisted on the title, although Roger disliked the monetary emphasis.
He and his wife Margaret had two sons, and were divorced in the early 1970s. Later, he was joined in the business by Sarah Mace, who became his second wife in 1977 and with whom he had two more sons.
The 70s were the heyday of the Baynton-Williams firm. It made a further move, to Belgravia, with substantial staffing, including its own framing department. Roger was a council member of the British Antique Dealers' Association and a committee member of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association.
The recession at the end of the decade savaged the antiques trade. Stuck with premium London rents, Roger and Sarah retrenched to Arundel, West Sussex. Inevitably, this lowered their profile in the antiquarian world, although faithful customers continued to seek them out and, more recently, new customers were found on the internet. Sarah now hopes to continue the business on her own.
Roger went into semi-retirement in 2008. His cancer had already been diagnosed. However, his second book, The Art of the Printmaker 1500-1860, was published in 2009. It was a labour of love, based on a personal collection of prints assembled over many years.
He is survived by Sarah and his sons, Ashley, Miles, Thomas and Edward. Ashley and Miles are both involved with antique maps – as a dealer and a cataloguer respectively.
• Roger Hilaire Baynton-Williams, antiquarian map and print dealer, born 23 December 1936; died 27 July 2011
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