ABSTRACT
On 29 November 1847 a young Oxford graduate called John William Burgon, who is still remembered for one line in his Newdigate Prize Poem, found it necessary to consult the great Dr. Routh, who had already been President of Magdalen since 1791, on some point in the patristic learning which was Routh's special field. As he expected, Burgon soon obtained the information he required. The fallibility of reputable works of reference can be demonstrated by a single but typical example. But, if works of reference should always be viewed with a certain suspicion (especially the indexes or synopses), it is equally fatal to ignore or by-pass these biblia abiblia. The scholar-cntic of English literature will probably begin by consulting some such work as The Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature even if this is essentially only an elaborate finding-list.
