Antiquarist

Our Antiquariſts ſay, that he vvent aftervvards to Ægypt, and having Married the Kings Daughter, and vvas expelled by the Ægyptians, after the departure of Moſes (by reaſon of the great hatred they bore to all Strangers for the Hebrevvs ſake)

The delight of the antiquariſt (ſays Mr Pinkerton) may be called a depraved appetite of the mind, which feeds on traſh, and fills itſelf with emptineſs.

The proof therefore of the identity of that at present standing, with the one mentioned by our great poet, would be a point equally interesting to the naturalist and antiquarist; and far be it from us to attempt to dispel so pleasing an illusion.

So in degrees of learning, he that cannot write might yet, perhaps, indite well; he that is no rhetorician might yet be a grammarian; he that is no poet might yet be a linguist; he that is no divine might yet be antiquarist or chronicler.

The antiquarists, on the contrary, declare that such interpretations are illegitimate, distort the meaning of the text, bring in it concepts and methods alien to it.

The ideal antiquarist, while analyzing the text, should rule out the use of modern colloquial language. As Rozov [1994] writes, criticizing the antiquarist’s position: / The ideal antiquarist knows the language of the texts and has no command of modern language. […] It may also help strict antiquarists to see that the argument of the socio-cultural philosophy of mathematics do not completely support their position.