Antiquary

“ The antiquary, as well as the geologist, has "from a few detached facts to fill up a living picture; so to identify himself with the past as to describe and follow, as though an eye-witness, the changes which have at various periods taken place upon the earth." ”

“ The abundant human sympathy that takes delight in all these passing incidents and trivial characteristics is a necessary part of the equipment of an antiquary. The whole tribe of antiquaries suffers under the false imputation that their work is ‘dry-as-dust.’ No doubt there are minute, exact, and arid minds in that, as in other callings. ”

“ So in regard to the buildings of greater antiquity: in those ruins which have long survived the wear of time, simplicity of construction, and an adaptation of the design to the locality, as well as to the materials with which they are built, are strikingly characteristic. The antiquary may derive most profitable information from the distinguishing characters of the different rocks, and may thence frequently determine the age and other circumstances connected with the erection of the structure he is investigating, more accurately than by tradition and imperfect records. ”

“ Those who have hitherto paid no attention to antiquarian pursuits, or may have treated with contempt what appeared to them the useless or speculative labours of the antiquary, may, it is hoped, be taught that his object is, in its way, of as high a reach as that of others who are allowed to be worthy labourers in the field of history. ”

“ The antiquary of old was but, in many instances, "a gatherer of other men's stuff;" whereas the archæologist of the present day adds to the worth of antiquarian studies by placing their results in new lights, and thus extending the utility and amusement which they afford. ”

“ The passage with which I began my story had set the antiquary on the track of another identification. In a private chapel—no matter where—he had seen three large figures, each occupying a whole light in a window, and evidently the work of one artist. Their style made it plain that that artist had been a German of the sixteenth century; but hitherto the more exact localizing of them had been a puzzle. They represented—will you be surprised to hear it?—Job Patriarcha, Johannes Evangelista, Zacharias Propheta, and each of them held a book or scroll, inscribed with a sentence from his writings. ”

“ The form of a letter, the shape of a piece of armour, even the character of an ornament, whether occurring in a manuscript or on a fragment of sculpture, may, as they frequently have done, determine questions which but for such evidence might never be satisfactorily disposed of In such matters, among numerous other particulars which might easily be adduced, the intelligent antiquary is not only the careful preserver of curious objects and facts, but he may also be exercising a calling of honourable usefulness. ”

“ Indeed, the aim and the groundwork of the studies of the antiquary form a sufficient guarantee for the interest with which these studies are invested. For the leading object and intent of all his pursuits is—MAN, and man's ways and works, his habits and thoughts, from the earliest dates at which we can find his traces and tracks upon the earth, onward and forwards along the journey of past time. During this long journey, man has everywhere left scattered behind and around him innumerable relics, forming so many permanent impressions and evidences of his march and progress. ”

“ GUIDE TO ARCHÆOLOGY. An Archæological Index to Remains of Antiquity of the Celtic, Romano-British, and Anglo-Saxon periods. By JOHN YONGE AKERMAN, fellow and secretary to the Society of Antiquaries. 1 vol. 8vo. illustrated with numerous engravings, comprising upwards of 500 objects, cloth, 15s.
"One of the first wants of an incipient antiquary is the facility of comparison, and here it is furnished him at one glance. The plates, indeed, form the most valuable part of the book, both by their number and the judicious selection of types and examples which they contain. ”

“ NO. XL.—HERCULANEUM.
"It is characteristic of the noblest natures and the finest imaginations," says an elegant writer [262] , "to love to explore the vestiges of antiquity, and to dwell in times that are no more. The first is the domain of the imaginative affections alone; we can carry none of our baser passions with us thither. The antiquary is often spoken of as being of a peculiar construction of intellect, which makes him think and feel differently from other people. ”

“ Thus, by thoughts in which the antiquary dwells on the yet undeveloped designs of the Ancient of Days, does he perceive a new dignity and sacredness in pursuits which not the ignorant only have heretofore deemed puerile and worthless, recognising in them the means of recovering lost links in that chain by which such mighty truths depend. ”

“ There were also many examples of rude instruments belonging to the Bronze Age, some Roman swords and a skeleton in a prehistoric stone coffin. The interest of these curiosities lay not only in their intrinsic value to the antiquary, but in the fact that they had all been dug up from the tumuli in the Commune of Carnac. But to me they assumed at once a far more vivid interest, when the custodian explained that the antiquary who had discovered most of them, and whose money had founded the museum, was "M'sieu Meelin 210 of Dundae." ”

“ It is believed that the antiquary's zeal for all coming time will be brought to bear on no other objects than those which now claim our attention and search; that is, although new monuments will be brought to light from their present hiding-places, no additions will be made to their actual number. ”

“ And take my advice—If you want an affair of consequence properly managed, put it into the hands of an antiquary; for as they are eternally exercising their genius and research upon trifles, it is impossible they can be baffled in affairs of importance;—use makes perfect—and the corps that is most frequently drilled upon the parade, will be most prompt in its exercise upon the day of battle. ”

“ Such men as the antiquary are certainly very happy people; they are absorbed in their subject, and consider it to be of immense importance. I suppose that their lives are, in a sense, well spent, and that the world is in a way the gainer by their labours. My friend the antiquary has certainly, according to his own account, proved that certain ancient earthworks near Dorchester are of a date at least five hundred years anterior to the received date. ”

“ If the antiquary digs from among the ruins of Herculaneum a piece of ancient money, a vase, or a statue, we rejoice with him, in finding the mode of life, the manners and arts of an ancient people, placed before our eyes: If he finds an old record, illustrative of the history of his country, however limited in extent that country may be, we are grateful to him for the particle of knowledge he has added to our store ”

“ Still, the pursuits of the antiquary, the man of local and special detail, the man of buildings or coins or weapons or manuscripts, are not in themselves history, though they are constantly found to be most valuable helps to history. ”

“ It needs only to be suggested that the accumulation of those facts which the accomplished antiquary alone can properly verify, and which, by his valuable assistance, bring us acquainted in detail and by tangible proof, as it were, with the usages of particular eras, must necessarily lead, if rightly considered, to a more enlarged field of intellectual exercise. ”

“ The labourer who is a knave will see, but take good care you do not. Unless your men be seeking consciously and with intelligence in an interest which is theirs as well as yours, better leave the hiding places of ancient things alone. For every digger, who turns over a site without finding what is in it, destroys great part of what he should have found.
Moreover, in handling remains of imperishable antiquity in the Nile land, I learned to observe as an antiquary must. ”

“ Thurnam, with the approval probably of every antiquary in England, comes to the conclusion that the original erection of the chambered tumulus belongs to the long prehistoric past; that the pottery, &c., were accidentally introduced; and that the coins belong to a secondary post-Roman interment. The only evidence for this being the presence of the flints above mentioned, and the assumptions based on them; they having become articles of faith with antiquaries which it is rank heresy to dispute. ”

“ Amongst antiquaries I have long noticed, that many who have especially studied one particular {597}branch of archæology, think and speak slightingly of those departments in which they are not much interested. One fond of research in the early tumuli is esteemed to be a mere "pot and pan antiquary" by one who, in his turn, is thought to waste his time on "mediæval trash;" ”

“ For the geologist, botanist, and naturalist, it has an abundant store of attractions, while its various ancient monuments of every class and age, from the regal fortress, the sepulchral cairn, and the cromleac of Pagan times, to the early Christian oratory, the abbey and the baronial hall of later years, would supply an equally ample stock of materials for the antiquary and the historian. ”

“ Interior of Cromlech, L'ancresse.
The love for Archæological knowledge which has been revived of late, and the present endeavours to render the subject more universal and encouraging, induce me to give an outline of those researches which have recently been made in my immediate neighbourhood. To mark with some degree of precision the different periods in the history of man, when the ancient memorials still left for our contemplation were constructed, or, at least, were in the occupation of their original founders, has ever been, and is still, the chief object of the antiquary. ”

“ The order and sequence of the stone, bronze, and iron ages, were distinctly made out; and even their chronology may one day be discovered. The antiquary is enabled to form some judgment of the civilisation, the arts, and the religion of the nations whose remains he studies. Very often, as in the Roman series of coins, he makes out political events in their history, and assigns their dates. He determines the place of things in the historical series, much as the naturalist does in the natural series.
Like the naturalist also he must be a man of learning, i.e. ”

“ The spade and plough of the husbandman are constantly disin [Pg 46] terring relics of high value to the antiquary and numismatist. The matchless collection of gold ornaments contained in the Museum of the Irish Academy has been almost entirely discovered in the course of common agricultural operations. The pickaxe of the ditcher, and of the canal and railway navvies, have often also, by their accidental strokes, uncovered rich antiquarian treasures. ”

“ Meanwhile his learning had recommended him to Henry VIII., who presented him to the rectory of Peuplingues in the marches of Calais in 1530. He was already librarian and chaplain to the king, and in 1533 he received a novel commission under the great seal as king’s antiquary, with power to search for records, manuscripts and relics of antiquity in all the cathedrals, colleges and religious houses of England. Probably from 1534, and definitely from 1536 onwards to 1542, he was engaged on an antiquarian tour through England and Wales. ”

“ The population may be about twenty-two thousand. He who looks for antiquities, will be cruelly disappointed; with the exception of the Hôtel de Ville, which is placed near a church, and more particularly of a Crucifix--there is little or nothing to satisfy the hungry cravings of a thorough-bred English Antiquary. The latter is of stone, of a rough grain, and sombre tint: and the figures are of the size of life. They are partly mutilated; especially the right leg of our Saviour, and the nose of St. ”

“ The heavy rains of the winter season coursing down these declivities for so many centuries, have in places worn deep ravines in the mounds, through which the torrents have carried [61] the crumbling debris far out upon the plain. In this way many valuable relics have come to light; bits of pottery, inscribed bricks, seals and cylinders, the form and style of the inscriptions upon some of these indicating great antiquity.
These indications of greater antiquity include inscriptions on bricks for building purposes as well as those used for record and literature. ”

“ Many of our great antiquaries (who are not the most skilled in designing) frequently grant the preference to the ancients, rather from prejudice than judgment. That striking peculiarity which to them appears so marvellous in the works of antiquity, is often a mere chimera: for most of the antique figures and statues are totally void of expression, and we can only fancy their characters. ”

“ At the same time the antiquarian may here occupy himself with the examination of the rude relics of antiquity, which lie scattered on all sides—nothing is more pleasing than that sacred enthusiasm which is kindled in the mind by the contemplation of the faded monuments of past ages, and surely no spot was ever more congenial to such sensations. ”

“ An ́tiquaries, those devoted to the study of ancient times through their relics, as old places of burial, remains of ancient habitations, early monuments, implements or weapons, statues, coins, medals, paintings, inscriptions, books, and manuscripts, with the view of arriving at a knowledge of the relations, modes of living, habits, and general condition of the people who created or employed them. Societies or associations of antiquaries have been formed in all countries of European civilization. In Britain the Society of Antiquaries of London was founded in 1572, revived in 1717. ”

“ The scope of the archaeologist’s studies must include every department of the ancient history of man as preserved in antiquities of whatever character, be they tumuli along the Baltic, fossil skulls and graven bones from the caves of France, the flint implements, pottery, and mummies of Egypt, tablets and bas-reliefs from Mesopotamia, coins and sculptures of Greece and Rome, or inscriptions, waxen tablets, parchment rolls, and papyri of a relatively late period of classical antiquity. ”