much of a muchness

As to any existing dearth of materials for comedy, I hold it to be merely imaginary; for I believe that on a fair comparison, the manners and morals of the present age and those of the past, would prove much of a muchness.

1819, The London Literary Gazette and Journal of Belles Lettres, Arts, Sciences, Etc, page 683

“He was not,” answered a juror. “Old Peter Goodwin could not have been more than five feet five, and Dorothy was all of that, I should think. When they came to meeting together, they looked much of a muchness.”

1850, James Fenimore Cooper, “The Ways of the Hour”, in Precaution / The Ways of the Hour, facsimile edition, published 2010, page 30

Nonsense! Every man thinks the girl he wants to marry different from every other. But she's nothing of the kind. Women are very much of a muchness, especially the pretty ones. I have not patience with this ranting about the equality of the sexes, It is not only irreligious but vulgar.

1906, William Somerset Maugham, The Bishop's Apron: A Study in the Origins of a Great Family, page 172

In fact, he said, in spite of all efforts to lift the popular taste, things were much of a muchness with the old days when in popular novels the villain, had to be foiled, the hero had to triumph and the lovers had to be united.

1926 October 2, “Chats with Office Callers”, in Henry Ford, W. J. Cameron, editors, Dearborn Independent Magazine October 1925-December 1926, page 28

Private houses in London are apt to be much of a muchness. The door opens on a dark hall; from the dark hall rises a narrow staircase; off the landing opens a double drawing-room, and in this double drawing-room are two sofas on each side of a blazing fire, six armchairs, and three long windows giving upon the street.

c. 1931, Virginia Woolf, “Portrait of a Londoner”, in The London Scene, published 2004, page 75