ABSTRACT
If in his studie he hath so much care To hang all old strange things, let his wife beware. The literary character of the antiquary proved remarkably durable, as some ‘mere antiquaries’ continued to invite ridicule by exhibiting a pretentious humility toward the past. However, the lawyers, scholars, and ‘persons of great Worth’ who formed England’s first Society of Antiquaries conformed to no stereotype, nor was their interest in antiquity a sterile affectation.2 If they erred in their views of the past, it was not for lack of rich experience in the present.
