E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Gil Blas (g soft).
The hero of Le Sage’s novel of the same name. Timid, but audacious; well-disposed, but easily led astray; shrewd, but easily gulled by practising on his vanity; good-natured, but without moral principle. The tale, according to one account, is based on Matteo Aleman’s Spanish romance, called the Life of Guzman; others maintain that the original was the comic romance entitled Relaciones de la Vida del Escudero Marcos de Obregon.
