Anantiquarian orantiquary (fromLatinantiquarius 'pertaining to ancient times') is anaficionado or student ofantiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who studyhistory with particular attention to ancientartefacts,archaeological and historicsites, or historicarchives andmanuscripts. The essence ofantiquarianism is a focus on theempirical evidence of the past, and is perhaps best encapsulated in the motto adopted by the 18th-century antiquarySir Richard Colt Hoare, "We speak from facts, not theory."

TheOxford 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 theSociety of Antiquaries of London (founded in 1707) retain their historic names. The term "antiquarian bookseller" remains current for dealers in more expensive old books.

During theSong dynasty (960–1279), the scholarOuyang Xiu (1007–1072) analyzed alleged ancient artefacts bearing archaicinscriptions in bronze and stone, which he preserved in a collection of some 400rubbings.^[1]Patricia Ebrey writes that Ouyang pioneered early ideas inepigraphy.^[2]

TheKaogutu (考古圖) or "Illustrated Catalogue of Examined Antiquity" (preface dated 1092) compiled by Lü Dalin (呂大臨) (1046–1092) is one of the oldest knowncatalogues to systematically describe and classify ancient artefacts which were unearthed.^[3] Another catalogue was theChong xiu Xuanhe bogutu (重修宣和博古圖) or "Revised Illustrated Catalogue of Xuanhe Profoundly Learned Antiquity" (compiled from 1111 to 1125), commissioned byEmperor Huizong of Song (r. 1100–1125), and also featured illustrations of some 840 vessels and rubbings.^[1][3]

Interests in antiquarian studies of ancient inscriptions and artefacts waned after the Song dynasty, but were revived by earlyQing dynasty (1644–1912) scholars such asGu Yanwu (1613–1682) andYan Ruoju (1636–1704).^[3]

Inancient Rome, a strongsense of traditionalism motivated an interest in studying and recording the "monuments" of the past; theAugustan historianLivy uses the Latinmonumenta in the sense of "antiquarian matters."^[4] Books on antiquarian topics covered such subjects as the origin of customs,religious rituals, andpolitical institutions;genealogy;topography and landmarks; andetymology.Annals andhistories might also include sections pertaining to these subjects, but annals are chronological in structure, andRoman histories, such as those of Livy andTacitus, 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 ofanecdotes.

Major antiquarianLatin writers with surviving works includeVarro,Pliny the Elder,Aulus Gellius, andMacrobius. The Roman emperorClaudius published antiquarian works, none of which is extant. Some ofCicero's treatises, particularlyhis work on divination, show strong antiquarian interests, but their primary purpose is the exploration of philosophical questions. Roman-eraGreek writers also dealt with antiquarian material, such asPlutarch in hisRoman Questions^[5] and theDeipnosophistae ofAthenaeus. 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.^[6]

Despite the importance of antiquarian writing in theliterature of ancient Rome, some scholars view antiquarianism as emerging only in theMiddle Ages.^[7] Medieval antiquarians sometimes made collections of inscriptions or records of monuments, but the Varro-inspired concept ofantiquitates among the Romans as the "systematic collections of all therelics of the past" faded.^[8] Antiquarianism's wider flowering is more generally associated with theRenaissance, and with the critical assessment and questioning ofclassical texts undertaken in that period byhumanist scholars.Textual criticism soon broadened into an awareness of the supplementary perspectives on the past which could be offered by the study ofcoins,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.

The importance placed onlineage inearly modern Europe meant that antiquarianism was often closely associated withgenealogy, and a number of prominent antiquaries (includingRobert Glover,William Camden,William Dugdale andElias Ashmole) held office as professionalheralds. The development of genealogy as a "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, includingseals andchurch monuments.

Manyearly modern antiquaries were alsochorographers: 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 ofcounty histories.

In the context of the 17th-centuryscientific 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".^[9] They increasingly argued that empiricalprimary evidence could be used to refine and challenge the received interpretations of history handed down from literary authorities.

By the end of the 19th century, antiquarianism had diverged into a number of more specialised academic disciplines includingarchaeology,art history,numismatics,sigillography,philology,literary studies anddiplomatics. Antiquaries had always attracted a degree of ridicule (seebelow), 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 whichinterdisciplinarity is increasingly encouraged, many of the established antiquarian societies (seebelow) have found new roles as facilitators for collaboration between specialists.

"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 anadjectival sense).^[10] From the second half of the 18th century, however, "antiquarian" began to be used more widely as a noun,^[11] and today both forms are equally acceptable.

From the 16th to the 19th centuries, a clear distinction was perceived to exist between the interests and activities of the antiquary and thehistorian.^{[9][12][13][14]} The antiquary was concerned with the relics of the past (whetherdocuments,artefacts ormonuments), whereas the historian was concerned with thenarrative 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".^[15]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".^[16] Such distinctions began to be eroded in the second half of the 19th century as the school ofempirical source-based history championed byLeopold 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

... 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.^[17]

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 ancientantiquarian books; or who trades in or collectsantique 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 astudent of ancient books, documents, artefacts or monuments. Many antiquarians have also built up extensive personalcollections 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.

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.^[18][19][20]

The antiquary was satirised inJohn Earle'sMicro-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"),^[21] inJean-Siméon Chardin's paintingLe Singe Antiquaire (c. 1726), in SirWalter Scott's novelThe Antiquary (1816), in the caricatures ofThomas Rowlandson, and in many other places. TheNew Dictionary of the Terms Ancient and Modern of the Canting Crew ofc. 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".[22] 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 asnerd,trainspotter oranorak.

TheconnoisseurHorace 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 bytaste andaesthetics. He deplored the more comprehensive and eclectic approach of the Society of Antiquaries, and their interest in the primitive past. In 1778 he wrote:

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 theHottentots; and for Roman remains in Britain, they are upon a foot with what ideas we should get ofInigo Jones, if somebody was to publish views of huts and houses that our officers run up atSenegal andGoree.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.^[23]

In his essay "On the Uses and Abuses of History for Life" from hisUntimely Meditations,philosopherFriedrich Nietzsche examines three forms ofhistory. One of these is "antiquarian history", an objectivising historicism which forges little or no creative connection between past and present. Nietzsche'sphilosophy of history had a significant impact oncritical 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".^[24]Arnaldo Momigliano in 1990 defined an antiquarian as "the type of man who is interested in historical facts without being interested in history".^[25] 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 ashistorical reenactors, who may have a meticulous approach to reconstructing the costumes ormaterial culture of past eras, but who are perceived to lack much understanding of the cultural values and historical contexts of the periods in question.

ACollege (or Society) of Antiquaries was founded in London inc. 1586, to debate matters of antiquarian interest. Members includedWilliam Camden,Sir Robert Cotton,John Stow,William Lambarde,Richard Carew and others. This body existed until 1604, when it fell under suspicion of being political in its aims, and was abolished by KingJames I. Papers read at their meetings are preserved inCotton's collections, and were printed byThomas Hearne in 1720 under the titleA Collection of Curious Discourses, a second edition appearing in 1771.^[26]

In 1707 a number of English antiquaries began to hold regular meetings for the discussion of their hobby and in 1717 theSociety of Antiquaries was formally reconstituted, finally receiving a charter from KingGeorge II in 1751. In 1780 KingGeorge III granted the society apartments inSomerset House, and in 1874 it moved into its present accommodation inBurlington House, Piccadilly. The society was governed by a council of twenty and a president who isex officio a trustee of theBritish Museum.^[26]

• TheSociety of Antiquaries of Scotland was founded in 1780 and had the management of a large national antiquarian museum inEdinburgh.^[26]
• TheSociety of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne, the oldest provincial antiquarian society in England, was founded in 1813.
• InIreland a society was founded in 1849 called the Kilkenny Archaeological Society, holding its meetings atKilkenny. In 1869 its name was changed to the Royal Historical and Archaeological Association of Ireland, and in 1890 to theRoyal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, its office being transferred toDublin.^[26]
• InFrance theSociété des Antiquaires de France was formed in 1813 by the reconstruction of theAcadêmie Celtique, which had existed since 1804.^[26]
• TheAmerican Antiquarian Society was founded in 1812, with its headquarters atWorcester,Massachusetts.^[26] In modern times, its library has grown to over 4 million items,^[27] and as an institution it is internationally recognised as a repository and research library for early (pre-1876) American printed materials.
• InDenmark, theKongelige Nordiske Oldskriftselskab (also known asLa Société Royale des Antiquaires du Nord or the Royal Society of Northern Antiquaries) was founded atCopenhagen in 1825.
• InGermany theGesamtverein der Deutschen Geschichts- und Altertumsvereine was founded in 1852.^[26]

In addition, a number of local historical and archaeological societies have adopted the word "antiquarian" in their titles. These have included theCambridge Antiquarian Society, founded in 1840; theLancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society, founded in 1883; theClifton Antiquarian Club, founded inBristol in 1884; theOrkney Antiquarian Society, founded in 1922; and thePlymouth Antiquarian Society, founded inPlymouth, Massachusetts in 1919.

• Historian
• Collector
• Connoisseur
• Epigraphy
• Sigillography
• Nomenclature
• Typology (archaeology)
• Renaissance humanism
• English county histories
• Auxiliary sciences of history
• The Antiquary by SirWalter Scott
• Cabinet of curiosities

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• Broadway, Jan (2006)."No Historie So Meete": gentry culture and the development of local history in Elizabethan and early Stuart England. Manchester: Manchester University Press.ISBN 978-0-7190-7294-9.
• Brown, I. G. (1980).The Hobby-Horsical Antiquary: a Scottish character, 1640–1830. Edinburgh: National Library of Scotland.ISBN 0-902220-38-1.
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• Levine, J. M. (1991).The Battle of the Books: history and literature in the Augustan age. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.ISBN 0801425379.
• Levine, Philippa (1986).The Amateur and the Professional: antiquarians, historians and archaeologists in Victorian England, 1838–1886. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.ISBN 0-521-30635-3.
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• Miller, Peter N. (2000).Peiresc's Europe: learning and virtue in the seventeenth century. New Haven: Yale University Press.ISBN 0-300-08252-5.
• Miller, Peter N. (2017).History and Its Objects: antiquarianism and material culture since 1500. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.ISBN 9780801453700.
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• Parry, Graham (1995).The Trophies of Time: English antiquarians of the seventeenth century. Oxford: Oxford University Press.ISBN 0198129629.
• Pearce, Susan, ed. (2007).Visions of Antiquity: The Society of Antiquaries of London 1707–2007. London: Society of Antiquaries.
• Piggott, Stuart (1976).Ruins in a Landscape: essays in antiquarianism. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.ISBN 0852243030.
• Stenhouse, William (2005).Reading Inscriptions and Writing Ancient History: historical scholarship in the late Renaissance. London: Institute of Classical Studies, University of London School of Advanced Study.ISBN 0-900587-98-9.
• Suzuki, Hiroyuki (2022). Fukuoka, Maki (ed.).Antiquarians of Nineteenth-Century Japan: the archaeology of things in the late Tokugawa and early Meiji periods. Los Angeles: Getty Research Institute.ISBN 9781606067420.
• Sweet, Rosemary (2004).Antiquaries: the discovery of the past in eighteenth-century Britain. London: Hambledon & London.ISBN 1-85285-309-3.
• Vine, Angus (2010).In Defiance of Time: antiquarian writing in early modern England. Oxford: Oxford University Press.ISBN 978-0-19-956619-8.
• Weiss, Roberto (1988).The Renaissance Discovery of Classical Antiquity (2nd ed.). Oxford: Blackwell.ISBN 9781597403771.
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• Woolf, Daniel (2003).The Social Circulation of the Past: English historical culture, 1500–1730. Oxford: Oxford University Press.ISBN 0-19-925778-7.