Pereisc and Antiquarianism

• In Event: Interpreting the Antique 1500–1675 III: The Antiquarians and the Antique

Abstract

Nicolas Fabri de Peiresc (1580–1637) was, according to Arnaldo Momigliano, "that archetype of all antiquarians." His intellectual interests ranged widely, from astronomy to zoology and across the globe. What was the role of the antique in all of this? What was the role of the antique, more precisely, in his antiquarianism? Should we think of antiquarianism in terms of subject matter or in terms of method? Then there is the whole relationship of antiquarianism to study of the past; how should we therefore explain the relationship of antiquarianism to history, both in its early modern heyday and later? Peiresc offers a wonderful platform for a discussion of these questions.

Author

• Peter N. Miller, Bard Graduate Center