E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Leap in the Dark (A).
Thomas Hobbes is reported to have said on his death-bed, “Now am I about to take my last voyage—a great leap in the dark.” Rabelais, in his last moments, said, “I am going to the Great Perhaps.” Lord Derby, in 1868, applied the words, “We are about to take a leap in the dark,” to the Reform Bill.
