E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Ca’leb Quo’tem.
A parish clerk or jack-of-all-trades, in Colman’s play called The Review, or Wags of Windsor, which first appeared in 1808. Colman borrowed the character from a farce by Henry Lee (1798) entitled Throw Physic to the Dogs.
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“I resolved, like Caleb Quotem, to have a place at the review.”—Washington Irving.
