The expression is pre-dated by an anecdote in the 1875
Our Bishops and Deans by
the Reverend F. Arnold, referenced in an issue of
The Academy: A Weekly Review of Literature, Science, and Art: "Without pledging our credence, we could afford a grin to the story of the 'young Levite' who at a bishop's breakfast-table, was so as to decline the replacement of a bad egg by a good one with a 'No thank you, my Lord, it's good enough for me'." '', 22 May 1895. In May 1895, the satirical British magazine
Judy published a cartoon by artist Wilkerson, showing a timid
curate and a fierce-looking
bishop at breakfast in the bishop's house. The bishop says, "Dear me, I'm afraid your egg's not good!" The curate, desperate not to offend his host and superior, replies, "Oh, yes, my Lord, really – er – some parts of it are good." In November that year, the magazine
Punch (which had a much wider circulation than
Judy) published a similar cartoon by staff illustrator
George du Maurier. Titled
True Humility, it also pictures a timid-looking curate eating breakfast with his bishop, though in this case with others at the table and servants shown in the background. The bishop says: "I'm afraid you've got a bad egg, Mr Jones." The curate replies: "Oh no, my Lord, I assure you! Parts of it are excellent!" An editor at
Judy accused
Punch of plagiarism, saying in an editorial, "anyone can see the coincidence for themselves".
The Economist Style Guide of 2018 cites the curate's egg in its entry for the connotations of 'good in parts'. It states: "good in parts is what the curate said about an egg that was wholly bad. He was trying to be polite." ==See also==