E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Bick’erstaff (Isaac).
A name assumed by Dean Swift in a satirical pamphlet against Partridge, the almanack-maker. This produced a paper war so diverting that Steele issued the Tatler under the editorial name of “Isaac Bickerstaff, Esq., Astrologer” (1709).
