An
antiquarian or
antiquary (from the
Latin:
antiquarius, meaning pertaining to ancient times) is an
aficionado or student of
antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study
history with particular attention to ancient
artifacts, archaeological and historic
sites, or historic
archives and
manuscripts. The essence of antiquarianism is a focus on the
empirical evidence of the past, and is perhaps best encapsulated in the motto adopted by the 18th-century antiquary,
Sir Richard Colt Hoare, "We speak from facts not theory".