Possible Antedating of Espionage "Mole"

[Shapiro, Fred]

Paul Dickson, in his recent book Authorisms, has an interesting entry for the espionage term "mole."  He notes that CIA historian Walter Pforzheimer attributed the term to Francis Bacon's 1622 biography of King Henry VII: "He was careful and liberal to obtaine good Intelligence from all parts abroad ... He had such Moles perpetually working and casting to undermine him."  The OED's first use is dated 1922.



Fred Shapiro

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