Ancient Britons and the Antiquarian Imagination: Ideas from the Renaissance to the Regency

First edition. The story of how antiquarians from the late sixteenth to the early nineteenth centuries sought to construct a picture of Britain's ancient past. Center stage are the antiquaries themselves, including William Camden, John Aubrey, and William Stukely, as well as Sir Robert Sibbald, who sketched flint arrowheads and believed they were elf-bolts from the skies. Emphasis is also given to the accurate recording of field monuments and artifacts such as the 1695 edition of Camden's Britannia, an intellectual highpoint of these early studies. The author had previously written The Druids 1985 and William Stukely revised, 1985 . With fifty illustrations. 175+ 1 pages. paper-covered boards, dust jacket. 8vo..