Dr. Ebenezer Cobham Brewer (1810-1897), was the compiler of Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, a Victorian reference work. Brewers Dictionary of Phrase and Fable - sometimes referred to simply as Brewers - is a reference work containing definitions and explanations of many famous phrases, allusions and figures, whether historical or mythical. ... Queen Victoria (shown here on the morning of her Accession to the Throne, 20 June 1837) gave her name to the historic era The Victorian era of Great Britain is considered the height of the British industrial revolution and the apex of the British Empire. ...

E Cobham Brewer was the son of a Norwich schoolmaster. He attended the University of Cambridge, graduating in Law in 1836. He was ordained in 1838 and then returned to Norwich to work at his father's school. While there he compiled his first major work, A Guide to the Scientific Knowledge of Things Familiar, first published in 1838. The book was immensely popular, and the sales may have funded his later extensive travels in Europe. Norwich (pronounced variously Norritch or Norridge) is a city in East Anglia, in Eastern England, and the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. ... The University of Cambridge is the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world, with one of the most selective sets of entry requirements in the United Kingdom. ...

On returning to England in 1856, he started on the work that was to become Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. The dictionary was derived in part from correspondence with readers of his books. The first edition was published in 1870 and Brewer worked on a revised edition that appeared in 1894.