“The growing scarcity of Mr. Ritson's publications is the best proof of their utility in illustrating the progress of the language and the manners of our ancestors; but the temper of the man is every day coming forth in a more unamiable light, since, with all his savage ravings about the inaccuracy of others, deeper research than his, is constantly proving him to have been as inaccurate as the best of them. This ought to be a lesson to all black-letter men; and should teach them to be cautious how they set themselves above the old adage, humanum est errare.”

English antiquary

Joseph Ritson was an English antiquary active in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He is known for editing the first scholarly collection of Robin Hood ballads in 1795, and for his work on English nursery rhymes. He became a strong supporter of the French Revolution after visiting France in 1791, and later emerged as an influential advocate of vegetarianism. He also assembled nursery rhyme collections such as Gammer Gurton's Garland, or The Nursery Parnassus, published in London by Joseph Johnson, including familiar verses like "Roses Are Red" and "Little Bo-Peep".