antiquarianism

n.An interest in things that are old, especially because of their age rather than other qualities.

Citations

Abraham 1999 [Henry Adams'] 1910 report 'To American Teachers of History' . . . attempted to demonstrate that Darwinism, thermodynamics and modern scientific thought must influence the teaching of history as a scientific discipline. He argued that historians must rearrange their prevailing world-view or forever be consigned to antiquarianism.