The practice, study, or scholarly approach of collecting and researching ancient things; the academic discipline or hobby focused on antiquities.
From antiquary plus -ism (a practice, system, or doctrine). Emerged in the 17th-18th centuries as antiquarian study became organized and systematic enough to be called a distinct field.
Antiquarism represents the moment when mere collecting became intellectual. It's when someone's attic full of old stuff transforms into a systematic pursuit of knowledge about the past—think of it as the ancestor of all modern historical scholarship.
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