  We present preliminary results from a pencil-beam spectroscopic survey of
low-luminosity quasars at z ~ 2.2-2.5. Our goal is to compare these sources
with low redshift analogues of similar luminosity. High s/n and moderate
resolution spectra were obtained for 15 sources using the faint object
spectrograph Osiris on the 10m Gran Telescopio Canarias. The new data make
possible an almost unprecedented comparison between sources with the same
(moderate) luminosity at widely different cosmic epochs. Preliminary analysis
of our spectra confirms the presence of a relatively evolved population of
quasars radiating at modest Eddington ratios. A notable difference between the
low and high z quasars may involve the presence of lower metallicity quasars at
high redshift.
