Dear Reader,
Welcome to The Antiquarian. We suppose it’d be best to begin by defining our namesake.
Harry
You might imagine an antiquarian as an old man, surrounded by lots of knick knacks in a quilted dressing gown.
Eliza
Or I envisage a Renaissance man, with a faint tan having just returned from his Grand Tour in Europe. Like in this 18th century etching in which a ‘’Renaissance man' gestures coolly at all the knowledge that lies available to him.’
Harry
That sounds quite like my father, he’s not from Italy but I think he has a sword on his wall.
Eliza
But we want to emphasise that this is exactly not what we envisage our Antiquarians to be. As a fan of etymology, I’d break this word down into antiques (old stuff) + rian (a believer, advocate or associate of): in short, antiquarians are lovers of the past. The historical connotations of the label may seem restrictive (a quick google of ‘antiquarian’ will throw up endless images of old men reading in their studies) but we want our Antiquarians to be anyone with an interest in the past. So we’d like to warmly welcome anyone with a Cambridge connection to delve into our journal and indeed write for us yourselves!
Historically, antiquarians have a bad rep not only in the limited scope of their inclusion but also their approach. Antiquarians in the 17th century were condemned for not ‘doing proper history’: they were somewhat chaotic in their approach, collecting titbits according to their interests rather than according to a rational organising principle. This is the aspect of antiquarianism that we really hope to embody in our journal. We hope it is an opportunity for our writers to be led by their own interests and write beyond the scopes of their courses. The Antiquarian Journal will certainly be equally chaotic as the condemned antiquarians of the 17th century, with our homepage boasting a huge range of articles.
Harry
Though I’m sure it was easier for our antiquarian ancestors to travel collecting these interests than it is for us now with the Covid-19 restrictions, the internet has brought us a new age where it's possible to be chaotically well informed. That’s our reasoning behind placing Classics and History alongside one another: early antiquarians certainly wouldn’t have distinguished between the two.
Antiquarians were also felt not to be engaging in a proper academic discipline because they often only documented sporadically, without often without formalising their thoughts through writing.
Eliza
And whilst we are certainly encouraging you to write for us, we’re also interested in engaging with material culture. One exciting project we’re working on is curating our own Cabinet of Curiosity.
These were the precursors to museums, in which antiquarians would place any and every object that interested them alongside one another. Often the antiquarian would use it as a talking point for their guests, leading them through an exploration of each object. We hope to do the same by taking the realms of a journal rather loosely and buying a physical cabinet for you to place antiquities of your own in. We’re planning to place this in upcoming museum events and art festivals. Whilst it may not be feasible for our writers to stand by the cabinet explaining its contents to visitors, the power of QR codes will allow us to link your objects to writings explaining them.
Harry
Indeed, we are actually quite indebted to our antiquarian ancestors. Much of a popular interest in history can be traced back to them. Even Cambridge institutions like the Union can be traced back to antiquarians such as the Elizabethan Society.
The Cabinet of Curiosities will be a great way for us to share our interest in antiquities beyond the scope of the journal. unlike antiquarians who often didn’t publish their interests we hope to encourage longer form writing. We’ll be publishing an annual zine of longer writing, so please submit dissertation extracts and larger explorations there!
Eliza
Much of our inspiration in forming this journal was the realisation that Cambridge students are continually generating fantastic work, which only their supervisors get to enjoy. Like the sporadic writings of the antiquarian, much of this goes unrecognised. Submitting your writing to a JSTOR-accredited academic journal is daunting, but we hope this journal and the zine can be a playground for your writing. We are delighted to have a huge committee of passionate editors who will help you with each stage of the writing process.
So, welcome to The Antiquarian.
With our warmest regards,
Harry (Classics Editor) and Eliza (History Editor)
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