Introduction

You will find it a very good practice always to verify your references, sir!

— Dr Routh (1755 – 1854), from Burgon, Quarterly Review, July 1878, vol cxlvi, 30.

These quotations have been collected from many sources over many years, and they represent the working collections of a working author. The biases are obvious, both in the subjects and in the authors chosen, for this is still a growing file, and reflects what I have read or written about in the past, or anticipate writing about in the near future. At present, there are some 115 000 words in about 1800 separate selections in this collection.

My intention was that I would use these, either as quotations in other books, or as epigraphs, those neat and apposite quotes, like the one above. At first, I just grabbed them and wrote them in a commonplace book, but then, I made my first electronic file, and set out on the road that brought me here.

Where possible, I have identified the sources in detail, but some were gleaned from other (regrettably secondary) sources, or were jotted down quickly in my note-books, or gathered from photocopies of odd pages lacking the necessary detail. I have left these pieces of dubious scholarship in, rather than risk depriving people of some worthy amusements or starting points. Just find your own source...

The selections are brief, and mainly taken from scientific sources, most of which are already in the public domain. A few are taken from works where a copyright probably exists. The task of seeking out and obtaining copyright clearance for such brief passages would have been too arduous and expensive, given that my intention in quoting from the works is to draw attention to them so that the reader will track them down. I will remove any items to which any verified copyright owner objects, after we have discussed whether or not my usage represents fair dealing. I believe that it does.