A "Man that wou'd please [a pedant], must pore an Age over musty Authors, till his Brains are as worm-eaten as the Books he reads, and his Conversation fit for no body else"
— Davys, Mary (1674-1732)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed by H. Woodfall
Date
1724
Metaphor
A "Man that wou'd please [a pedant], must pore an Age over musty Authors, till his Brains are as worm-eaten as the Books he reads, and his Conversation fit for no body else"
Metaphor in Context
The Pedant despises the most elaborate Undertaking, unless it appears in the World with Greek and Latin Motto's; a Man that wou'd please him, must pore an Age over musty Authors, till his Brains are as worm-eaten as the Books he reads, and his Conversation fit for no body else: I have neither Inclination nor Learning enough to hope for his Favour, so lay him aside.
Categories
Provenance
Searching "brain" and "book" in HDIS (Prose)
Citation
At least 9 entries in ESTC (1724, 1725, 1735, 1736, 1744, 1752, 1760, 1763).
Mary Davys, The Reform'd Coquet; a Novel. by Mrs. Davys, Author of the Humours of York. (London: London: Printed by H. Woodfall, for the Author; and sold by J.Stephens, 1724). <Link to ECCO><Link to Google Books>
Text from The Works of Mrs. Davys: Consisting of, Plays, Novels, Poems, and Familiar Letters. Several of which never before Publish'd. 2 vols. (London: printed by H. Woodfall, for the author and sold by J. Stevens, 1725). <Link to Google Books>
Reading in Popular Fiction by Women, 1660-1730, eds. Paula Backscheider and John Richetti (Oxford UP, 1996).
Mary Davys, The Reform'd Coquet; a Novel. by Mrs. Davys, Author of the Humours of York. (London: London: Printed by H. Woodfall, for the Author; and sold by J.Stephens, 1724). <Link to ECCO><Link to Google Books>
Text from The Works of Mrs. Davys: Consisting of, Plays, Novels, Poems, and Familiar Letters. Several of which never before Publish'd. 2 vols. (London: printed by H. Woodfall, for the author and sold by J. Stevens, 1725). <Link to Google Books>
Reading in Popular Fiction by Women, 1660-1730, eds. Paula Backscheider and John Richetti (Oxford UP, 1996).
Date of Entry
04/25/2005
