read of

read of (someone or something)

To have knowledge of be familiar with someone or something as a result of reading about them or it (in something). I read of his research in a science magazine. Most people have read of her at some point or another.
See also: of, read
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

read of someone or something (somewhere)

to read news about someone or something in something. I think I have read of you in the papers. Mary read of the job opening in the newspaper.
See also: of, read
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • have the hang of (something)
  • have the feel of (something)
  • have a familiar ring
  • get the hang of
  • get the hang of (something)
  • get the hang of something
  • familiar
  • familiar with
  • familiar with (someone or something)
  • get the feel of (something)
References in classic literature
By God your worship should read what I have read of Felixmarte of Hircania, how with one single backstroke he cleft five giants asunder through the middle as if they had been made of bean-pods like the little friars the children make; and another time he attacked a very great and powerful army, in which there were more than a million six hundred thousand soldiers, all armed from head to foot, and he routed them all as if they had been flocks of sheep.
Don Quixote
If she read that the heroine of the novel was nursing a sick man, she longed to move with noiseless steps about the room of a sick man; if she read of a member of Parliament making a speech, she longed to be delivering the speech; if she read of how Lady Mary had ridden after the hounds, and had provoked her sister-in-law, and had surprised everyone by her boldness, she too wished to be doing the same.
Anna Karenina
Recently, I read of an obituary published in the London Times for violinist and teacher Rosemary Rapaport, who had founded and guided the Purcell School.
Polyphony. (Professional Resources)
Our drop-back package involved a five-step, half-rollout system based on timing routes and the quarterback's read of the coverage.
The Three "R's" for QBs: Read! Read! Read!