Brewer's Concise Dictionary of Phrase & Fable

Brewer's Concise Dictionary of Phrase & Fable contains over 15,000 entries which give the meaning and origin of phrases, words, proper names, figures in mythology and history, and terms in religion, magic, philosophy, literature, geography, and the sciences. Here is an extraordinary miscellany of knowledge including lists of traditional animal cries, of dwarfs and giants in history, or patron saints, and of wedding anniversaries; a glossary of terms in heraldry; how to play nine men's morris; and much more. Brewer's Concise Dictionary of Phrase & Fable is the first abridged edition of the legendary reference work, originally put together by the polymath, clergyman, and schoolmaster Dr Ebenezer Cobham Brewer in 1870. Since then it has gone through many new editions and sold millions of copies.