Editing Antiquarian

{{short description|Specialist or aficionado of antiquities or things of the past}}
{{About|practitioners of the scholarly pursuit of antiquarianism|the trade in old books|Bookselling|trading or collecting old objects|Antique}}
{{EngvarB|date=July 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}}
[[File:1655 - Frontispiece of Museum Wormiani Historia.jpg|thumb|upright=1.6|[[Ole Worm]]'s [[cabinet of curiosities]], from ''Museum Wormianum,'' 1655]]

An '''antiquarian''' or '''antiquary''' ({{etymology|la|{{wikt-lang|la|antiquarius}}|pertaining to ancient times}}) is an [[fan (person)|aficionado]] or student of [[antiquities]] or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study [[history]] with particular attention to ancient [[artifact (archaeology)|artefacts]], [[History of archaeology|archaeological]] and historic [[Archaeological site|sites]], or historic [[archive]]s and [[manuscript]]s. The essence of '''antiquarianism''' is a focus on the [[empirical evidence]] of the past, and is perhaps best encapsulated in the motto adopted by the 18th-century antiquary [[Sir Richard Hoare, 2nd Baronet|Sir Richard Colt Hoare]], "We speak from facts, not theory."

The ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' first cites "[[archaeologist]]" from 1824; this soon took over as the usual term for one major branch of antiquarian activity. "Archaeology", from 1607 onwards, initially meant what is now seen as "[[ancient history]]" generally, with the narrower modern sense first seen in 1837.

Today the term "antiquarian" is often used in a pejorative sense, to refer to an excessively narrow focus on factual historical trivia, to the exclusion of a sense of historical context or process. Few today would describe themselves as "antiquaries", but some institutions such as the [[Society of Antiquaries of London]] (founded in 1707) retain their historic names. The term "antiquarian bookseller" remains current for dealers in more expensive old books.

==History==
===Antiquarianism in ancient China===
{{see also|History of Chinese archaeology|Shen Kuo}}

During the [[Song dynasty]] (960–1279), the scholar [[Ouyang Xiu]] (1007–1072) analyzed alleged ancient artefacts bearing archaic [[Chinese bronze inscriptions|inscriptions in bronze and stone]], which he preserved in a collection of some 400 [[rubbing (art)|rubbing]]s.<ref name="clunas">[[Craig Clunas|Clunas, Craig]]. (2004). ''Superfluous Things: Material Culture and Social Status in Early Modern China''. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. {{ISBN|0-8248-2820-8}}. p. 95.</ref> [[Patricia Buckley Ebrey|Patricia Ebrey]] writes that Ouyang pioneered early ideas in [[epigraphy]].<ref>Ebrey, Patricia Buckley (1999). ''The Cambridge Illustrated History of China''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. {{ISBN|0-521-66991-X}}, p. 148.</ref>

The {{Transliteration|zh|Kaogutu}} ({{Lang-zh|c=考古圖|labels=no}}) or "Illustrated Catalogue of Examined Antiquity" (preface dated 1092) compiled by Lü Dalin ({{Lang-zh|c=呂大臨|labels=no}}) (1046–1092) is one of the oldest known [[Collection catalog|catalogues]] to systematically describe and classify ancient artefacts which were unearthed.<ref name="hist">Trigger, Bruce G. (2006). ''A History of Archaeological Thought: Second Edition''. New York: Cambridge University Press. {{ISBN|0-521-84076-7}}. p. 74.</ref> Another catalogue was the {{Transliteration|zh|Chong xiu Xuanhe bogutu}} ({{Lang-zh|c=重修宣和博古圖|labels=no}}) or "Revised Illustrated Catalogue of Xuanhe Profoundly Learned Antiquity" (compiled from 1111 to 1125), commissioned by [[Emperor Huizong of Song]] (r. 1100–1125), and also featured illustrations of some 840 vessels and rubbings.<ref name="clunas"/><ref name="hist"/>

Interests in antiquarian studies of ancient inscriptions and artefacts waned after the Song dynasty, but were revived by early [[Qing dynasty]] (1644–1912) scholars such as [[Gu Yanwu]] (1613–1682) and [[Yan Ruoju]] (1636–1704).<ref name="hist"/>

===Antiquarianism in ancient Rome===
In [[ancient Rome]], a strong [[mos maiorum|sense of traditionalism]] motivated an interest in studying and recording the "monuments" of the past; the [[Augustan literature (ancient Rome)|Augustan]] historian [[Livy]] uses the Latin {{Lang|la|monumenta}} in the sense of "antiquarian matters."<ref>Livy, ''Ab Urbe Condita'' 7.3.7: cited also in the ''[[Oxford Latin Dictionary]]'' (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1982, 1985 reprinting), p. 1132, entry on ''monumentum'', as an example of meaning 4b, "recorded tradition."</ref> Books on antiquarian topics covered such subjects as the origin of customs, [[Religion in ancient Rome|religious rituals]], and [[Roman constitution|political institutions]]; [[genealogy]]; [[topography]] and landmarks; and [[etymology]]. [[Annals]] and [[Roman historiography|histories]] might also include sections pertaining to these subjects, but annals are chronological in structure, and [[Roman historiography|Roman histories]], such as those of Livy and [[Tacitus]], are both chronological and offer an overarching narrative and interpretation of events. By contrast, antiquarian works as a literary form are organised by topic, and any narrative is short and illustrative, in the form of [[anecdote]]s.

Major antiquarian [[Latin literature|Latin writers]] with surviving works include [[Varro]], [[Pliny the Elder]], [[Aulus Gellius]], and [[Macrobius]]. The Roman emperor [[Claudius]] published antiquarian works, none of which is extant. Some of [[Cicero]]'s treatises, particularly [[De Divinatione|his work on divination]], show strong antiquarian interests, but their primary purpose is the exploration of philosophical questions. Roman-era [[Ancient Greek literature|Greek writers]] also dealt with antiquarian material, such as [[Plutarch]] in his ''[[Moralia|Roman Questions]]''<ref>At [[LacusCurtius]], Bill Thayer presents an edition of the ''[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Moralia/Roman_Questions*/home.html Roman Questions] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230108172941/https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Moralia/Roman_Questions%2A/home.html |date=8 January 2023 }}'' based on the [[Loeb Classical Library]] translation. Thayer's edition can be browsed question-by-question in tabulated form, with direct links to individual topics.</ref> and the ''[[Deipnosophistae]]'' of [[Athenaeus]]. The aim of Latin antiquarian works is to collect a great number of possible explanations, with less emphasis on arriving at a truth than in compiling the evidence. The antiquarians are often used as sources by the ancient historians, and many antiquarian writers are known only through these citations.<ref>This overview of Roman antiquarianism is based on [[T.P. Wiseman]], ''Clio's Cosmetics'' (Bristol: Phoenix Press, 2003, originally published 1979 by Leicester University Press), pp. 15–15, 45 ''et passim''; and ''A Companion to Latin Literature'', edited by Stephen Harrison (Blackwell, 2005), pp. 37–38, 64, 77, 229, 242–244 ''et passim''.</ref>

[[File:Antiquaries; twenty portraits of historians. Engraving by J. Wellcome V0006811.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.08|"Antiquaries": portraits of 20 influential antiquaries and historians published in [[George Crabb (writer)|Crabb]]'s ''Universal Historical Dictionary'' (1825). Featured are: [[Giraldus Cambrensis]], [[John Leland (antiquary)|John Leland]], [[Guido Panciroli]], [[John Stow]], [[William Camden]], [[Justus Lipsius]], [[Joseph Justus Scaliger]], [[Johannes Meursius]], [[Hubert Goltzius]], [[Henry Spelman]], [[Charles Patin]], [[Philipp Clüver]], [[William Dugdale]], [[Claudius Salmasius]], [[Friedrich Spanheim]], [[Johann Georg Graevius]], [[Jakob Gronovius]], [[Thomas Hearne (antiquarian)|Thomas Hearne]], [[John Strype]], and [[Elias Ashmole]].]]

===Medieval and early modern antiquarianism===
{{further|History of archaeology}}
Despite the importance of antiquarian writing in the [[Latin literature|literature of ancient Rome]], some scholars view antiquarianism as emerging only in the [[Middle Ages]].<ref name=Daly-35>{{Cite book|title=Egyptology: The Missing Millennium : Ancient Egypt in Medieval Arabic Writings|first=Okasha|last=El Daly|publisher=[[Routledge]]|year=2004|isbn=1-84472-063-2|page=35 }}</ref> Medieval antiquarians sometimes made collections of inscriptions or records of monuments, but the Varro-inspired concept of {{Lang|la|antiquitates}} among the Romans as the "systematic collections of all the [[relic]]s of the past" faded.<ref>[[Arnaldo Momigliano]], "Ancient History and the Antiquarian," ''Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes'' 13 (1950), p. 289.</ref> Antiquarianism's wider flowering is more generally associated with the [[Renaissance]], and with the critical assessment and questioning of [[Classical antiquity|classical]] texts undertaken in that period by [[Renaissance humanism|humanist]] scholars. [[Textual criticism]] soon broadened into an awareness of the supplementary perspectives on the past which could be offered by the study of [[Numismatics|coins]], [[Epigraphy|inscriptions]] and other archaeological remains, as well as documents from medieval periods.  Antiquaries often formed collections of these and other objects; [[cabinet of curiosities]] is a general term for early collections, which often encompassed antiquities and more recent art, items of natural history, [[memorabilia]] and items from far-away lands.

[[Image:William Camden Clarenceux.jpg|thumb|upright|left|[[William Camden]] (1551–1623), author of the ''Britannia'', wearing the [[tabard]] and [[chain of office]] of [[Clarenceux King of Arms]]. Originally published in the 1695 edition of ''Britannia''.]]
The importance placed on [[ancestor|lineage]] in [[Early modern period|early modern]] Europe meant that antiquarianism was often closely associated with [[genealogy]], and a number of prominent antiquaries (including [[Robert Glover (officer of arms)|Robert Glover]], [[William Camden]], [[William Dugdale]] and [[Elias Ashmole]]) held office as professional [[herald]]s. The development of genealogy as a "[[Scientific method|scientific]]" discipline (i.e. one that rejected unsubstantiated legends, and demanded high standards of proof for its claims) went hand-in-hand with the development of antiquarianism. Genealogical antiquaries recognised the evidential value for their researches of non-textual sources, including [[Seal (emblem)|seals]] and [[church monuments]].

Many [[Early modern period|early modern]] antiquaries were also [[Chorography|chorographers]]: that is to say, they recorded landscapes and monuments within regional or national descriptions. In England, some of the most important of these took the form of [[English county histories|county histories]].

In the context of the 17th-century [[scientific revolution]], and more specifically that of the  "[[Quarrel of the Ancients and the Moderns]]" in England and France, the antiquaries were firmly on the side of the "Moderns".<ref name="Levine, Battle of the Books">Levine, ''Battle of the Books''.</ref> They increasingly argued that empirical [[Primary source|primary]] evidence could be used to refine and challenge the received interpretations of history handed down from literary authorities.

===19th–21st centuries===
[[File:Pit Mead Roman villa mosaic, illustration by Catherine Downes.jpg|thumb|Pit Mead Roman villa mosaic, illustrations by [[Catherine Downes]], engraved by [[James Basire]] and presented to the SAL by [[Daines Barrington]]]]
By the end of the 19th century, antiquarianism had diverged into a number of more specialised academic disciplines including [[archaeology]], [[art history]], [[numismatics]], [[sigillography]], [[philology]], [[Literary criticism|literary studies]] and [[diplomatics]]. Antiquaries had always attracted a degree of ridicule (see [[#Pejorative associations|below]]), and since the mid-19th century the term has tended to be used most commonly in negative or derogatory contexts. Nevertheless, many practising antiquaries continue to claim the title with pride. In recent years, in a scholarly environment in which [[interdisciplinarity]] is increasingly encouraged, many of the established antiquarian societies (see [[#Antiquarian societies|below]]) have found new roles as facilitators for collaboration between specialists.

==Terminological distinctions==
===Antiquaries and antiquarians===
"Antiquary" was the usual term in English from the 16th to the mid-18th centuries to describe a person interested in antiquities (the word "antiquarian" being generally found only in an [[Adjective|adjectival]] sense).<ref>First [[OED]] uses of "Antiquary. 3" 1586 and 1602.</ref> From the second half of the 18th century, however, "antiquarian" began to be used more widely as a noun,<ref>[[OED]] "Antiquarian" as noun, first uses 1610, then 1778</ref> and today both forms are equally acceptable.

===Antiquaries and historians===
From the 16th to the 19th centuries, a clear distinction was perceived to exist between the interests and activities of the antiquary and the [[historian]].<ref name="Levine, Battle of the Books"/><ref>Woolf, "Erudition and the Idea of History".</ref><ref>Levine, ''Humanism and History'', pp.&nbsp;54–72.</ref><ref>Levine, ''Amateur and Professional'', pp.&nbsp;28–30, 80–81.</ref> The antiquary was concerned with the relics of the past (whether [[document]]s, [[Artifact (archaeology)|artefacts]] or [[Archaeological site|monuments]]), whereas the historian was concerned with the [[Narrative history|narrative]] of the past, and its political or moral lessons for the present. The skills of the antiquary tended to be those of the critical examination and interrogation of his sources, whereas those of the historian were those of the philosophical and literary reinterpretation of received narratives. Jan Broadway defines an antiquary as "someone who studied the past on a thematic rather than a chronological basis".<ref>Broadway, ''"No Historie So Meete"'', p. 4.</ref> [[Francis Bacon]] in 1605 described readings of the past based on antiquities (which he defined as "Monuments, Names, Wordes, Proverbes, Traditions, Private Recordes, and Evidences, Fragments of stories, Passages of Bookes, that concerne not storie, and the like") as "unperfect Histories".<ref>{{cite book |first=Francis |last=Bacon |author-link=Francis Bacon |title=[[The Advancement of Learning]] |editor-first=Michael |editor-last=Kiernan |series=Oxford Francis Bacon |volume=4 |place=Oxford |publisher=Clarendon Press |year=2000 |orig-year=1605 |isbn=0-19-812348-5 |page=66 }}</ref> Such distinctions began to be eroded in the second half of the 19th century as the school of [[empirical]] source-based history championed by [[Leopold von Ranke]] began to find widespread acceptance, and today's historians employ the full range of techniques pioneered by the early antiquaries. Rosemary Sweet suggests that 18th-century antiquaries
{{blockquote|... probably had more in common with the professional historian of the twenty-first century, in terms of methodology, approach to sources and the struggle to reconcile erudition with style, than did the authors of the grand narratives of national history.<ref>Sweet, ''Antiquaries'', p. xiv.</ref>}}

===Antiquarians, antiquarian books and antiques===
In many European languages, the word antiquarian (or its equivalent) has shifted in modern times to refer to a person who either trades in or collects rare and ancient [[Antiquarian bookseller|antiquarian books]]; or who trades in or collects [[Antique|antique objects]] more generally. In English, however, although the terms "antiquarian book" and "antiquarian bookseller" are widely used, the nouns "antiquarian" and "antiquary" very rarely carry this sense. An antiquarian is primarily a ''student'' of ancient books, documents, artefacts or monuments. Many antiquarians have also built up extensive personal [[Collecting|collections]] in order to inform their studies, but a far greater number have not; and conversely many collectors of books or antiques would not regard themselves (or be regarded) as antiquarians.

[[File:The Puzzle (Gravestone to Claud Coster and Jane Coster with 4 unknown antiquaries) by John Bowles.jpg|thumb|''The Puzzle'' (1756): etching by John Bowles. In one variation on a recurrent joke, four antiquaries struggle to decipher what seems to be an ancient inscription, but which is in fact a crude memorial in English to Claud Coster, [[tripe]]-seller, and his wife. The print is ironically dedicated to "the Penetrating Genius's of [[University of Oxford|Oxford]], [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge]], [[Eton College|Eaton]], [[Westminster School|Westminster]], and the [[Society of Antiquaries of London|Learned Society of Antiquarians]]".]]

==Pejorative associations==
[[File:Chardin, la scimmia antiquaria, 1726 ca. 02.JPG|thumb|upright|left|''Le Singe Antiquaire'' ({{circa|1726}}) by [[Jean-Siméon Chardin]]]]
Antiquaries often appeared to possess an unwholesome interest in death, decay, and the unfashionable, while their focus on obscure and arcane details meant that they seemed to lack an awareness both of the realities and practicalities of modern life, and of the wider currents of history. For all these reasons they frequently became objects of ridicule.<ref>B.S. Allen, ''Tides in English Taste (1619–1800)'', 2 vols (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1937), vol. 2, pp.&nbsp;87–92.</ref><ref>Brown, ''Hobby-Horsical Antiquary'', esp. pp.&nbsp;13–17.</ref><ref>Sweet, ''Antiquaries'', pp. xiii, 4–5.</ref>

The antiquary was satirised in [[John Earle (bishop)|John Earle]]'s ''Micro-cosmographie'' of 1628 ("Hee is one that hath that unnaturall disease to bee enamour'd of old age, and wrinkles, and loves all things (as Dutchmen doe Cheese) the better for being mouldy and worme-eaten"),<ref>John Earle, "An Antiquarie", in ''Micro-cosmographie'' (London, 1628), sigs [B8]v-C3v.</ref> in [[Jean-Siméon Chardin]]'s painting ''Le Singe Antiquaire'' ({{circa|1726}}), in Sir [[Walter Scott]]'s novel ''[[The Antiquary]]'' (1816), in the caricatures of [[Thomas Rowlandson]], and in many other places. The ''[[A New Dictionary of the Terms Ancient and Modern of the Canting Crew|New Dictionary of the Terms Ancient and Modern of the Canting Crew]]'' of {{circa|1698}} defines an antiquary as "A curious critic in old Coins, Stones and Inscriptions, in Worm-eaten Records and ancient Manuscripts, also one that affects and blindly dotes, on Relics, Ruins, old Customs Phrases and Fashions".<ref>{{cite book |author=B.E. |title=A New Dictionary of the Terms Ancient and Modern of the Canting Crew |place=London |year=1699 |page=16 }}</ref> In his "Epigrams", [[John Donne]] wrote of The Antiquary: "If in his study he hath so much care To hang all old strange things Let his wife beware." The word's resonances were close to those of modern terms for individuals with obsessive interests in technical minutiae, such as [[nerd]], [[Trainspotters in the United Kingdom#In popular culture|trainspotter]] or [[Anorak (slang)|anorak]].

[[File:Rowlandson Death & Antiquaries.jpg|thumb|left|[[Thomas Rowlandson]]'s caricature, ''Death and the Antiquaries'', 1816. A group of antiquaries cluster eagerly around the exhumed corpse of a king, oblivious to the jealous figure of Death aiming his dart at one of them. The image was inspired by the opening of the tomb of [[Edward I of England|Edward I]] in [[Westminster Abbey Burials and Memorials|Westminster Abbey]] by the [[Society of Antiquaries of London|Society of Antiquaries]] in 1774.]]
The [[connoisseur]] [[Horace Walpole]], who shared many of the antiquaries' interests, was nonetheless emphatic in his insistence that the study of cultural relics should be selective and informed by [[Taste (aesthetics)|taste]] and [[aesthetics]]. He deplored the more comprehensive and eclectic approach of the Society of Antiquaries, and their interest in the primitive past. In 1778 he wrote:
{{blockquote|The antiquaries will be as ridiculous as they used to be; and since it is impossible to infuse taste into them, they will be as dry and dull as their predecessors. One may revive what perished, but it will perish again, if more life is not breathed into it than it enjoyed originally. Facts, dates and names will never please the multitude, unless there is some style and manner to recommend them, and unless some novelty is struck out from their appearance. The best merit of the Society lies in their prints; for their volumes, no mortal will ever touch them but an antiquary. Their Saxon and Danish discoveries are not worth more than monuments of the [[Khoikhoi|Hottentots]]; and for Roman remains in Britain, they are upon a foot with what ideas we should get of [[Inigo Jones]], if somebody was to publish views of huts and houses that our officers run up at [[Senegal]] and [[Gorée|Goree]]. [[Charles Lyttelton (bishop)|Bishop Lyttelton]] used to torment me with barrows and Roman camps, and I would as soon have attended to the turf graves in our churchyards. I have no curiosity to know how awkward and clumsy men have been in the dawn of arts or in their decay.<ref>Quoted in Martin Myrone, "The Society and Antiquaries and the graphic arts: George Vertue and his legacy", in Pearce 2007, p. 99.</ref> }}

In his essay "On the Uses and Abuses of History for Life" from his ''Untimely Meditations'', [[philosopher]] [[Friedrich Nietzsche]] examines three forms of [[history]]. One of these is "antiquarian history", an objectivising historicism which forges little or no creative connection between past and present. Nietzsche's [[philosophy of history]] had a significant impact on [[critical history]] in the 20th century.

[[C. R. Cheney]], writing in 1956, observed that "[a]t the present day we have reached such a pass that the word 'antiquary' is not always held in high esteem, while 'antiquarianism' is almost a term of abuse".<ref>C.R. Cheney, "Introduction", in Levi Fox (ed.), ''English Historical Scholarship in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries'' (London, 1956), p. 4.</ref> [[Arnaldo Momigliano]] in 1990 defined an antiquarian as "the type of man who is interested in historical facts without being interested in history".<ref>Momigliano 1990, p. 54.</ref> Professional historians still often use the term "antiquarian" in a pejorative sense, to refer to historical studies which seem concerned only to place on record trivial or inconsequential facts, and which fail to consider the wider implications of these, or to formulate any kind of argument. The term is also sometimes applied to the activities of amateur historians such as [[Historical reenactment|historical reenactors]], who may have a meticulous approach to reconstructing the costumes or [[material culture]] of past eras, but who are perceived to lack much understanding of the cultural values and historical contexts of the periods in question.

==Antiquarian societies==
===London societies===
A [[College of Antiquaries|College (or Society) of Antiquaries]] was founded in London in {{circa|1586}}, to debate matters of antiquarian interest. Members included [[William Camden]], [[Robert Bruce Cotton|Sir Robert Cotton]], [[John Stow]], [[William Lambarde]], [[Richard Carew (antiquary)|Richard Carew]] and others. This body existed until 1604, when it fell under suspicion of being political in its aims, and was abolished by King [[James I of England|James I]]. Papers read at their meetings are preserved in [[Cottonian library|Cotton's collections]], and were printed by [[Thomas Hearne (antiquarian)|Thomas Hearne]] in 1720 under the title ''A Collection of Curious Discourses'', a second edition appearing in 1771.<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Antiquary|volume=2|page=134}}</ref>

[[File:Soc Antiq 2010.JPG|thumb|right|upright|The entrance to the premises of the [[Society of Antiquaries of London]], at [[Burlington House]], [[Piccadilly]]]]
In 1707 a number of English antiquaries began to hold regular meetings for the discussion of their hobby and in 1717 the [[Society of Antiquaries of London|Society of Antiquaries]] was formally reconstituted, finally receiving a charter from King [[George II of Great Britain|George II]] in 1751. In 1780 King [[George III of Great Britain|George III]] granted the society apartments in [[Somerset House]], and in 1874 it moved into its present accommodation in [[Burlington House]], Piccadilly. The society was governed by a council of twenty and a president who is ''ex officio'' a trustee of the [[British Museum]].<ref name="EB1911"/>

===Other notable societies===
*The [[Society of Antiquaries of Scotland]] was founded in 1780 and had the management of a large national antiquarian museum in [[Edinburgh]].<ref name="EB1911"/>
*The [[Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne]], the oldest provincial antiquarian society in England, was founded in 1813.
*In [[Ireland]] a society was founded in 1849 called the Kilkenny Archaeological Society, holding its meetings at [[Kilkenny]]. In 1869 its name was changed to the Royal Historical and Archaeological Association of Ireland, and in 1890 to the [[Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland]], its office being transferred to [[Dublin]].<ref name="EB1911"/>
*In [[France]] the ''[[Société des Antiquaires de France]]'' was formed in 1813 by the reconstruction of the {{Lang|fr|Acadêmie Celtique}}, which had existed since 1804.<ref name="EB1911"/>
*The [[American Antiquarian Society]] was founded in 1812, with its headquarters at [[Worcester, Massachusetts|Worcester]], [[Massachusetts]].<ref name="EB1911"/> In modern times, its library has grown to over 4 million items,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://worcestermag.com/2014/01/30/worcesters-best-kept-secret-american-antiquarian-society-belongs-everyone/20529 |title=Worcester's best kept secret: The American Antiquarian Society belongs to everyone &#124; Worcester MagWorcester Mag |access-date=2014-10-10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141017204828/http://worcestermag.com/2014/01/30/worcesters-best-kept-secret-american-antiquarian-society-belongs-everyone/20529 |archive-date=2014-10-17 }} Goslow, B. (2014, January 30). Worcester’s best kept secret: The American Antiquarian Society belongs to everyone. Worcester Magazine.</ref> and as an institution it is internationally recognised as a repository and research library for early (pre-1876) American printed materials.
*In [[Denmark]], the {{Lang|da|Kongelige Nordiske Oldskriftselskab}} (also known as {{Lang|fr|La Société Royale des Antiquaires du Nord}} or the Royal Society of Northern Antiquaries) was founded at [[Copenhagen]] in 1825.
*In [[Germany]] the {{Lang|de|Gesamtverein der Deutschen Geschichts- und Altertumsvereine}} was founded in 1852.<ref name="EB1911"/>

In addition, a number of local historical and archaeological societies have adopted the word "antiquarian" in their titles. These have included the [[Cambridge Antiquarian Society]], founded in 1840; the [[Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society]], founded in 1883; the [[Clifton Antiquarian Club]], founded in [[Bristol]] in 1884; the [[Orkney Antiquarian Society]], founded in 1922; and the [[Plymouth Antiquarian Society]], founded in [[Plymouth, Massachusetts]] in 1919.

==Notable antiquarians==
{{Col-begin}}
{{Col-3}}
*[[Patrick Abercromby]]
*[[Arthur Agarde]]
*[[Pasquale Amati]]
*[[Giovanni Anastasi (merchant)|Giovanni Anastasi]]
*[[Elias Ashmole]]
*[[John Aubrey]]
*[[Abd al-Latif al-Baghdadi (medieval writer)|Abd-al Latif al-Baghdadi]]
*[[James Balfour of Denmyine|Sir James Balfour]]
*[[Thomas Baker (antiquarian)|Thomas Baker]]
*[[John Bale]]
*[[Daines Barrington]]
*[[Thomas Bateman (antiquary)|Thomas Bateman]]
*[[John Battely]]
*[[Flavio Biondo]]
*[[William Borlase]]
*[[William Bragge]]
*[[Thomas Browne]]
*[[George Buck]]
*[[William Camden]]
*[[Robert Bruce Cotton]]
*[[Robert Crowley (printer)|Robert Crowley]]
*[[Abraham de la Pryme]]
*[[Catherine Downes]]
*[[William Dugdale|Sir William Dugdale]]
*[[Henry Duncan (1774–1846)|Rev. Dr. Henry Duncan]]
{{Col-3}}
*[[John Foxe]]
*[[Richard Grafton]]
*[[Ibn Abd-el-Hakem]]
*[[Anthony Charles Harris]]
*[[Robert Stephen Hawker]]
*[[Sir Richard Hoare, 2nd Baronet|Sir Richard Colt Hoare]]
*[[Muhammad al-Idrisi]]
*[[Montague Rhodes James]]
*[[Maurice Johnson (antiquary)|Maurice Johnson]]
*[[Nasir Khusraw]]
*[[Al-Kindi]]
*[[Alexander Crawford Lamb]]
*[[William Lambarde]]
*[[John Leland (antiquary)|John Leland]]
*[[Edward Lhuyd]]
*[[H. P. Lovecraft]]
*[[William Collings Lukis]]
*[[Thomas Edward Lawrence]]
*[[Herman H. J. Lynge]]
*[[Daniel Lysons (antiquarian)|Daniel Lysons]]
*[[Samuel Lysons]]
*[[Dubhaltach MacFhirbhisigh]]
*[[Al-Maqrizi]]
{{Col-3}}
*[[Philip Norman (artist)|Philip Norman]]
*[[Peregrine O'Duignan]]
*[[Ruaidhri O Flaithbheartaigh]]
*[[Elias Owen (Welsh cleric)|Elias Owen]]
*[[Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc]]
*[[Dorning Rasbotham]]
*[[Franklin Pierce Rice]]
*[[Fred Rosenstock]]
*[[Joaquín Rubio y Muñoz]]
*[[Shen Kuo]] 
*[[William Forbes Skene]]
*[[Jacques Seligmann]]
*[[George Dudley Seymour]]
*Sir [[Hans Sloane]]
*[[John Stow]]
*[[William Stukeley]]
*[[Ralph Thoresby]]
*[[Robert Thoroton]]
*[[George Vertue]]
*[[Ibn Wahshiyya]]
*[[Horace Walpole]]
*[[Ole Worm|Olaus Wormius]]
*[[Thomas Wright (antiquarian)|Thomas Wright]]
{{Col-end}}

==See also==
*[[Historian]]
*[[Collecting|Collector]]
*[[Connoisseur]]
*[[Epigraphy]]
*[[Sigillography]]
*[[Nomenclature]]
*[[Typology (archaeology)]]
*[[Renaissance humanism]]
*[[English county histories]]
*[[Auxiliary sciences of history]]
*''[[The Antiquary]]'' by Sir [[Walter Scott]]
*[[Cabinet of curiosities]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Bibliography==
*{{cite book |editor1-first=Benjamin |editor1-last=Anderson |editor2-first=Felipe |editor2-last=Rojas |title=Antiquarianisms: contact, conflict, comparison |series=Joukowsky Institute publication |volume=8 |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford Books |year=2017 |isbn=9781785706844 }}
*{{Cite book|first=Jan |last=Broadway |title="No Historie So Meete": gentry culture and the development of local history in Elizabethan and early Stuart England|year=2006 |location=Manchester |publisher=Manchester University Press |isbn=978-0-7190-7294-9 }}
*{{Cite book|first=I. G. |last=Brown |title=The Hobby-Horsical Antiquary: a Scottish character, 1640–1830 |year=1980 |location=Edinburgh |publisher=National Library of Scotland |isbn=0-902220-38-1 }}
*{{Cite book|editor-first=Levi |editor-last=Fox |editor-link=Levi Fox |title=English Historical Scholarship in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries |year=1956 |location=London |publisher=Dugdale Society and Oxford University Press }}
*{{Cite journal |last=Gransden |first=Antonia |author-link=Antonia Gransden |title=Antiquarian Studies in Fifteenth-Century England |journal=Antiquaries Journal |volume=60 |year=1980 |pages=75–97 |doi=10.1017/S0003581500035988|s2cid=162807608 }}
*{{Cite book|first=T. D. |last=Kendrick |author-link=T. D. Kendrick |title=British Antiquity |year=1950 |publisher=Methuen |location=London }}
*{{Cite book|first=J. M. |last=Levine |title=Humanism and History: origins of modern English historiography |url=https://archive.org/details/humanismhistoryo00levi |url-access=registration |year=1987 |location=Ithaca, NY |publisher=Cornell University Press |isbn=9780801418853 }}
*{{Cite book |first=J. M. |last=Levine |title=The Battle of the Books: history and literature in the Augustan age |year=1991 |location=Ithaca, NY |publisher=Cornell University Press |isbn=0801425379 |url=https://archive.org/details/battleofbookshis00levi }}
*{{Cite book |first=Philippa |last=Levine |title=The Amateur and the Professional: antiquarians, historians and archaeologists in Victorian England, 1838–1886 |year=1986 |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0-521-30635-3 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/amateurprofessio0000levi }}
*{{Cite book|first=S. A. E. |last=Mendyk |title="Speculum Britanniae": regional study, antiquarianism and science in Britain to 1700 |year=1989 |location=Toronto |publisher=University of Toronto Press }}
*{{Cite book|first=Peter N. |last=Miller |author-link=Peter N. Miller |title=Peiresc's Europe: learning and virtue in the seventeenth century |year=2000 |publisher=Yale University Press |location=New Haven |isbn=0-300-08252-5 }}
*{{cite book |first=Peter N. |last=Miller |author-link=Peter N. Miller |title=History and Its Objects: antiquarianism and material culture since 1500 |publisher=Cornell University Press |place=Ithaca, NY |year=2017 |isbn=9780801453700 }}
*{{Cite journal |last=Momigliano |first=Arnaldo |author-link=Arnaldo Momigliano |title=Ancient History and the Antiquarian |journal=Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes |volume=13 |year=1950 |pages=285–315 |doi=10.2307/750215 |issue=3/4 |jstor=750215 |s2cid=164918925 |url=https://seer.ufrgs.br/anos90/article/view/43194 }}
*{{cite book |last=Momigliano |first=Arnaldo |author-link=Arnaldo Momigliano |year=1990 |chapter=The Rise of Antiquarian Research |title=The Classical Foundations of Modern Historiography |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780520078703 |url-access=registration |place=Berkeley |publisher=University of California Press |pages=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780520078703/page/54 54–79] |isbn=0520068904 }}
*{{Cite book|first=Graham |last=Parry |title=The Trophies of Time: English antiquarians of the seventeenth century |year=1995 |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0198129629}}
*{{Cite book|editor-first=Susan |editor-last=Pearce |title=Visions of Antiquity: The Society of Antiquaries of London 1707–2007|year=2007 |location=London |publisher=Society of Antiquaries }}
*{{Cite book |first=Stuart |last=Piggott |author-link=Stuart Piggott |title=Ruins in a Landscape: essays in antiquarianism |year=1976 |location=Edinburgh |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |isbn=0852243030 |url=https://archive.org/details/ruinsinlandscape00pigg }}
*{{Cite book|first=William|last=Stenhouse |title=Reading Inscriptions and Writing Ancient History: historical scholarship in the late Renaissance |year=2005 |location=London |publisher=Institute of Classical Studies, University of London School of Advanced Study |isbn=0-900587-98-9 }}
*{{Cite book|first=Hiroyuki |last=Suzuki |title=Antiquarians of Nineteenth-Century Japan: the archaeology of things in the late Tokugawa and early Meiji periods |editor-first=Maki |editor-last=Fukuoka |location=Los Angeles |publisher=Getty Research Institute |year=2022 |isbn=9781606067420 }}
*{{Cite book|first=Rosemary |last=Sweet |title=Antiquaries: the discovery of the past in eighteenth-century Britain |year=2004 |location=London |publisher=Hambledon & London |isbn=1-85285-309-3 }}
*{{Cite book|first=Angus |last=Vine |title=In Defiance of Time: antiquarian writing in early modern England |year=2010 |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-956619-8 }}
*{{Cite book|first=Roberto |last=Weiss |author-link=Roberto Weiss |title=The Renaissance Discovery of Classical Antiquity |year=1988 |edition=2nd |location=Oxford |publisher=Blackwell |isbn=9781597403771 }}
*{{Cite journal |last=Woolf |first=D. R. |author-link=Daniel Woolf |title=Erudition and the Idea of History in Renaissance England |journal=Renaissance Quarterly |volume=40 |year=1987 |issue=1 |pages=11–48 |doi=10.2307/2861833|jstor=2861833 |s2cid=164042832 }}
*{{Cite book|first=Daniel |last=Woolf |author-link=Daniel Woolf |title=The Social Circulation of the Past: English historical culture, 1500–1730 |year=2003 |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-19-925778-7 }}

{{Archaeology}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Antiquarians| ]]
[[Category:Pejorative terms for people]]
[[Category:Historiography]]
[[Category:Archaeological sub-disciplines]]

[[fr:Société des antiquaires]]