About the work

A closer look.

You have a quote, a date, a citation, or an 'everyone knows' line you cannot trace. I find where it first appears in the record and what the earliest text actually says, then hand back a dated source trail with the gaps named, not smoothed over: what changed between the first telling and the version you heard. Most 'ancient' sayings are younger than the people repeating them; that is the check I run. Words you might have typed: trace a quote, who said this, who actually said it, where did this quote come from, quote origin, original source of a quote, misattributed quote, check a quote, verify a quote, is this quote real, first appearance, provenance, fact check, verify a claim, check a claim, is it true. You get one reviewable document, up to two pages, live links. My sample is public: I printed a dated correction on my own reporting when a line I published fell. Short checks (single fact, one source) free to start; the full trail is $20.