''Bartlett's Familiar Quotations'', often simply called ''Bartlett's'', is an American

reference work A reference work is a document, such as a Academic publishing#Scholarly paper, paper, book or periodical literature, periodical (or their electronic publishing, electronic equivalents), to which one can refer for information. The information ...

that is the longest-lived and most widely distributed collection of

quotation A quotation or quote is the repetition of a sentence, phrase, or passage from speech or text that someone has said or written. In oral speech, it is the representation of an utterance (i.e. of something that a speaker actually said) that is intro ...

s. The book was first issued in 1855 and is currently in its 19th edition, published in 2022. The book arranges its entries by author, rather than by subject, unlike many other quotation collections, and enters the authors chronologically by date of birth rather than alphabetically. Within years, authors are arranged alphabetically and quotations are arranged chronologically within each author's entry, followed by attributed remarks whose source in the author's writings has not been confirmed. The book contains a thorough keyword index and details the source of each quotation.

History

19th century

John Bartlett, an American publisher and writer, who ran the University Book Store in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

, was frequently asked for information on quotations. Bartlett began a

commonplace book Commonplace books (or commonplaces) are a way to compile knowledge, usually by writing information into blank books. They have been kept from antiquity, and were kept particularly during the Renaissance and in the nineteenth century. Such book ...

, including quotations from his own extensive readings and memory. In 1855, Bartlett acknowledged in the book's preface that, "this Collection ... has been considerably enlarged by additions from an English work on a similar plan," a reference to ''Handbook of Familiar Quotations from English Authors'', written by Isabella Rushton Preston in 1853. In 1855, Bartlett privately printed his compilation as ''A Collection of Familiar Quotations''. This first edition included 258 pages of quotations by 169 authors, chiefly the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

, and the great English poets. Bartlett wrote in the fourth edition that "it is not easy to determine in all cases the degree of familiarity that may belong to phrases and sentences which present themselves for admission; for what is familiar to one class of readers may be quite new to another." The book was a great success, and Bartlett authored and published three additional editions before joining the

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

publishing firm of

Little, Brown and Company Little, Brown and Company is an American publishing company founded in 1837 by Charles Coffin Little and James Brown in Boston. For close to two centuries, it has published fiction and nonfiction by American authors. Early lists featured Emil ...

. Bartlett rose to be the senior partner of the firm, and supervised the publication of nine additional editions prior to his death in 1905, selling over 300,000 copies. The seventh edition was published in 1875, the eighth edition in 1882, and the ninth in 1891. The 10th edition, however, did not appear for another 20 years.

20th century

Edited by Nathan Haskell Dole, the 10th edition was published in 1914, and was much like its predecessors. The book began with quotations originally in English, arranged them chronologically by author;

Geoffrey Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer ( ; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for ''The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He w ...

was the first entry and Mary Frances Butts the last. The quotes were chiefly from literary sources. A "miscellaneous" section followed, including quotations in English from politicians and scientists, such as " fifty-four forty or fight!". A section of translations followed, including mainly quotes from the

ancient Greeks Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically re ...

and Romans. The last section was devoted to the

and the ''

Book of Common Prayer The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the title given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christianity, Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The Book of Common Prayer (1549), fi ...

''. Quotations were arranged in a single column. The 11th edition, published in 1937 and edited by Christopher Morley and Louella D. Everett, expanded the page size and created a two-column format, making it the first edition that is recognizable to users of the modern work. The 12th edition, published in 1948, was also edited by Morley and Everett. The 13th edition, published in 1955, was billed by the publisher as the "Centennial Edition". While the work was credited to the editors of Little, Brown, the preface gives special thanks to Morley and Everett and Emily Morison Beck. The volume continued to add more recent material, such as quotes from cartoonist

Bill Mauldin William Henry Mauldin (; October 29, 1921 – January 22, 2003) was an American editorial cartoonist who won two Pulitzer Prizes for his work. He was most famous for his World War II cartoons depicting American soldiers, as represented by the ...

and

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

. Beck edited the 14th edition, published in 1968, and the 15th edition, published in 1980. Aram Bakshian argued that Beck's work on the 15th edition was the start of the work's downfall, writing that, "Donning the intellectual bell-bottoms and platform shoes of its era, ''Bartlett's'' began spouting third-rate

Third World The term Third World arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either NATO or the Warsaw Pact. The United States, Canada, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, the Southern Cone, NATO, Western European countries and oth ...

, youth-culture, and feminist quotes", part of "a middle-aged obsession with staying trendy." Following Beck's retirement, Little, Brown appointed a new editor, Justin Kaplan, whose book on

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, and essayist. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," with William Fau ...

, ''Mr. Clemens and Mark Twain'', won the 1967

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

. Kaplan's 16th edition, published in 1993, was met with criticism in part because he included only three minor

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

quotations and commented publicly that he despised Reagan. In comparison,

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

was given 35 entries and

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the first Roman Catholic and youngest person elected p ...

28. Jonathan Siegel, who edited the ''Macmillan Book of Political Quotations'', said Kaplan was "an insult to the memory of John Bartlett and the ideologically inclusive spirit of the first fifteen editions." Kaplan was also criticized for including

pop culture Popular culture (also called pop culture or mass culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as popular art pop_art.html" ;"title="f. pop art">f. pop artor mass art, some ...

material that was considered neither familiar nor durable.

21st century

Similar criticisms were leveled against Kaplan's 17th edition, published in 2003, which for the first time included entries from

J. K. Rowling Joanne Rowling ( ; born 31 July 1965), known by her pen name , is a British author and philanthropist. She is the author of ''Harry Potter'', a seven-volume fantasy novel series published from 1997 to 2007. The series has List of best-sell ...

Jerry Seinfeld Jerome Allen Seinfeld ( ; born April 29, 1954) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer. As a stand-up comedian, Seinfeld specializes in observational comedy. Seinfeld gained stardom playing a semi-fictionalized version ...

, and

Larry David Lawrence Gene David (born July 2, 1947) is an American comedian, writer, actor, and television producer. He is known for his dry wit, portrayals of awkward social situations, and brutally honest takes on everyday life. He has received two Prim ...

. But classics were cut, including eleven quotations by

Alexander Pope Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S. – 30 May 1744) was an English poet, translator, and satirist of the Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment era who is considered one of the most prominent English poets of the early ...

and high-sounding sentimental quotes that Kaplan considered not worthy of inclusion. Kaplan did, however, expand his number of quotations from

from three to six, telling ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

'', "I admit I was carried away by prejudice. Mischievously I did him dirt." The 18th edition, published in 2012, was edited by poet, critic, and editor Geoffrey O'Brien, who was also the editor-in-chief of the

Library of America The Library of America (LOA) is a nonprofit publisher of classic American literature. Founded in 1979 with seed money from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Ford Foundation, the LOA has published more than 300 volumes by authors ...

.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/john-bartlett/bartletts-familiar-quotations/9780316017596/ He continues as editor of the 19th edition, published in 2022.

Notes

References

''In addition to the prefaces of various editions of'' Bartlett's, ''the following sources were useful'': *Aram Bakshian, Jr. "Bartlett's familiar quotas". ''

National Review ''National Review'' is an American conservative editorial magazine, focusing on news and commentary pieces on political, social, and cultural affairs. The magazine was founded by William F. Buckley Jr. in 1955. Its editor-in-chief is Rich L ...

''. v. 45, n. 22. November 15, 1993. 60–61. *"Bartlett's selective memory". ''Alberta Report''. v. 21, n. 3. January 3, 1994. 15. *Caroline Benham. "Cuts from 'Bartlett's Familiar Quotations'. ''

''. October 17, 2002. * James Gleick.
Bartlett Updated
". ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

Book Review''. August 8, 1993. 3. *Roger Kimball. "You Can Look It Up". ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

''. October 18, 2002. *Douglas Martin. "Emily Morison Beck, 88, Dies, Edited Bartlett's Quotations". '' The New York Times''. March 31, 2004. C13. *Adam Meyerson. "Editing History". ''

Reader's Digest ''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his wi ...

''. v. 144, issue 863. March 1994. 104. *Adam Meyerson. "Mr. Kaplan, Tear Down This Wall". ''Policy Review''. Fall 1993. Issue 66. 4+. *Robin Roger. "Up to the minute". ''Commentary''. v. 95, n. 5. May 1993. 56–58.

External links

*
Online copy of the 10th edition (1914)
at

Bartleby.com Bartleby.com is an American electronic text archive, headquartered in Los Angeles (US) and named for Herman Melville's story " Bartleby, the Scrivener". It is a commercial website operated by Barnes & Noble Education, though its repository of ...

(text pages, searchable)
Online copy of the 12th edition (1951)
at

Archive.org The Internet Archive is an American non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including websites, software applic ...

Online copy of the 14th edition (1968)
at

(PDF, OCR text, TIFF) * {{Authority control 1855 books 2003 books American non-fiction literature Books of quotations English-language books Little, Brown and Company books