No One Could See Him

Entry of the Day:
Dwarfs in Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable

Brewer, E. Cobham. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, Giving the Derivation, Source, or Origin of Common Phrase, Allusions, and Words That Have a Tale to Tell. London, 1870.

Dwarfs. The most remarkable are:
    Phileʹtas, a poet (contemporary with Hippocʹratës), so small ‘that he wore leaden shoes to prevent being blown away by the wind.’ (Died B.C. 280.)
    Nicephʹorus Calistus tells us of an Egyptian dwarf not bigger than a partridge.
    Arisʹtratos, the poet, was so small that Athenæʹos says no one could see him.
    Sir Geoffrey Hudson, born at Oakham, in Rutlandshire, at the age of thirty was only eighteen inches in height. (1619–1678.)
    Owen Farrel, the Irish dwarf, born at Caʹvan, hideously ugly, but of enormous muscular strength. Height, three feet nine inches. (Died 1742.)