E. Cobham Brewer 18101897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
The craftiest of thieves. He stole the flocks of his neighbours, and changed their marks. Sisyphos outwitted him by marking his sheep under their feet, a device which so tickled the rogue that he instantly cottoned to him. Shakespeare introduces him in The Winters Tale as a pedlar, and says he was called the son of Mercury, because he was born under that thieving planet.
Autolycus is no lapidary, though he drives a roaring trade in flash jewellery.Pall Mall Gazette.