Paul Johnson

Dirty rotten scholars

Brilliance, bitterness and filth in the loftiest of ivory towers

Who was the dirtiest don in history? There must be many claimants for this title, especially in the 17th century, when all dons (except heads of houses) were bachelors. The diaries of Anthony à Wood bear witness. Actually my candidate for the title lived until 1940, and had a wife, too, though she was instrumental in his filth-accumulation.

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