“I come like an Heir to a large Patrimony”: the representation of antiquity in 18th-c. British dictionaries of arts and sciences (CONVEGNO: Panel: “Antiquaries and antiquities in Eighteenth-century reference works”; Convenors: Elisabetta Lonati & Laura Pinnavaia ), 16th Congress of the International Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (ISECS), Antiquity and the Shaping of the Future in the Age of Enlightenment, Università La Sapienza - Università Tor Vergata, Rome, 3-7 July 2023

ABSTRACT (relazione a convegno): Eighteenth-century British dictionaries of arts and sciences, as an emerging genre which draws its features from lexicographic works arranged in alphabetical order and the tradition of commonplace books (Yeo 2001: 102-103) among others, aim to disseminate and make knowledge/s available to a large and curious educated readership. Their importance increased throughout the century as one of the privileged means to record and communicate the scientific and technical progress of the period, geographical discoveries and the expanding world, as well as new perspectives on life and society. In other words, their general aim was to represent modernity -- as their present or recent past -- as it was perceived at the time, and make it known to the people. However, modernity and progress were not presented to the public in a vacuum, even though they were the focus of these reference works. Ancient times and, in particular, antiquity -- as history, habits, cultural issues, heritage, etc. -- were also included as the foundation of contemporary society, for many different aspects. In this perspective, the aim of this study is to investigate the notion and the representation of the distant past as it emerges from those words and contents labelled as antiquity. This approach will also be crucial to highlight the relationship between past and present in 18th-c. contemporary (educated) society, and the status of antiquity in a changing world.