Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, often simply called Bartlett's, is an American reference work that is the longest-lived and most widely distributed collection of quotations. The book was first issued in 1855 and is currently in its seventeenth edition, published in 2003. A reference work is a compendium of information, usually of a specific type, compiled for ease of reference. ... A quotation is a fragment of a human expression that is inserted into another human expression. ... 1855 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The book arranges its entries by author, rather than by subject, as 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

John Bartlett, who ran the University Book Store in Cambridge, Massachusetts, was frequently asked for information on quotations and he began a commonplace book of them for reference. In 1855, he privately printed his compilation as A Collection of Familiar Quotations. This first edition contained 258 pages of quotations by 169 authors, chiefly the Bible, William Shakespeare, 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." There are several men named John Bartlett, among them: John Bartlett, 1855-1905, who began Bartletts Familiar Quotations. ... City Hall - Cambridge MA Cambridge is a city in the Greater Boston area of Massachusetts, United States. ... State nickname: Bay State Other U.S. States Capital Boston Largest city Boston Governor Mitt Romney (R) Official languages English Area 27,360 km² (44th)  - Land 20,317 km²  - Water 7,043 km² (25. ... During the Renaissance (especially in England), commonplaces (or commonplace books) were for some people a popular way to compile knowledge, usually done by writing information into books. ... 1855 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Parts of this article contradict each other. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... William Shakespeare is regarded as one of the greatest English poets ever. ...

The book was a great success, and Bartlett issued three more editions before joining the Boston publishing firm of Little, Brown, and Company in 1863. Bartlett rose to be the senior partner of the firm and supervised nine editions of the work before his death in 1905, the work selling over 300,000 copies. The seventh edition had appeared in 1875, the eighth edition in 1882, and the ninth in 1891. The tenth edition, however, would not appear for more than twenty years. Alternative meanings: Boston (disambiguation) The 18th-century Old State House in Boston is surrounded by tall buildings of the 19th and 20th centuries. ... 1863 is a common year starting on Thursday. ... 1905 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... 1875 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... 1882 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... 1891 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ...

Edited by Nathan Haskell Dole, the tenth edition (1914) was much like its predecessors. The book began with quotations originally in English, arranging them chronologically by author (Geoffrey Chaucer was the first entry, Mary Frances Butts the last). These quotes were chiefly from literary sources. A "miscellaneous" section follows of quotations in English from politicians and scientists (such as "fifty-four forty or fight!"). A section of "translations" follows, consisting mainly of lines from the ancient Greeks and Romans. The last section was devoted to the Bible and the Book of Common Prayer. Quotations were arranged in a single column. 1914 is a common year starting on Thursday. ... Chaucer: Illustration from Cassells History of England, circa 1902 Geoffrey Chaucer (c. ... The phrase Fifty-Four Forty or Fight was a campaign slogan of United States President-to-be James K. Polk. ... Translation is an activity comprising the interpretation of the meaning of a text in one language — the source text — and the production of a new, equivalent text in another language — called the target text, or the translation. ... Ancient Greece is the term used to describe the Greek-speaking world in ancient times. ... Ancient Rome was a civilization that existed in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East between 753 BC and its downfall in AD 476. ... The Book of Common Prayer[1] is the prayer book of the Church of England and also the name for similar books used in other churches in the Anglican Communion. ...

The eleventh edition (1937), edited by Christopher Morley (1890–1957) 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. A twelfth edition (1948) was also edited by Morley and Everett. 1937 was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... Christopher Morley (5 May 1890 - 28 March 1957) was an American journalist, novelist, and poet. ... 1890 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... 1957 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1948 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ...

The thirteenth edition (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 as well as Emily Morison Beck (1915–2004). The volume continued to add more recent material, the two youngest authors being cartoonist Bill Mauldin and Queen Elizabeth II. Beck also edited the fourteenth edition (1968) and the fifteenth (1980). Adam Bakshian would say Beck's work on the fifteenth edition was the start of the work's downfall: "Donning the intellectual bell-bottoms and platform shoes of its era, Bartlett's began sprouting third-rate Third World, youth-culture, and feminist quotes," part of "a middle-aged obsession with staying trendy." 1955 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1915 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Bill Mauldin (October 29, 1921—January 22, 2003) was a Pulitzer Prize-winning United States. ... Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor), styled HM The Queen (born 21 April 1926) is the Queen regnant and head of state of Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Grenada, Jamaica, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent... 1968 was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1968 calendar). ... 1980 is a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... For the Jamaican reggae band, see Third World (band). ...

Following Beck's retirement, Little, Brown entrusted the editorship to Justin Kaplan, whose life of Mark Twain Mr. Clemens and Mark Twain had won the Pulitzer Prize in 1967. Kaplan brought out the sixteenth edition in 1993 to a firestorm of controversy, thanks to his public comments that "I'm not going to disguise the fact that I despise Ronald Reagan" and had deliberately shortchanged him. Reagan's entry contained only three quotations, all intended to make Mr. Reagan look ridiculous, according to critics. Justin Kaplan (September 5, 1925, New York) was an American writer and editor. ... Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was a famous and popular American humorist, writer and lecturer. ... The Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography has been presented since 1917 for a distinguished biography or autobiography by an American author. ... 1967 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1993 is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was the 40th President of the United States (1981–1989) and the 33rd Governor of California (1967–1975). ...

Kaplan also failed to include the most famous Reagan line ("Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall"). Democratic presidents fared much better under Kaplan than Republicans, with Franklin D. Roosevelt having 35 entries and John F. Kennedy having 28. Jonathan Siegel, who edited the Macmillian 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." Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachyov (Gorbachev)   listen? (Russian: ; pronunciation: ) (born March 2, 1931), was leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991. ... Berlin Wall on November 16, 1989 The Berlin Wall (German: Die Berliner Mauer) was a long barrier separating West Berlin from East Berlin and the surrounding territory of East Germany. ... The Democratic Party is one of the two major political parties in the United States. ... The Republican Party, often called the GOP (for Grand Old Party, although one early citation described it as the Gallant Old Party) [1], is one of the two major political parties in the United States. ... Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882–April 12, 1945), 32nd President of the United States, the longest-serving holder of the office and the only man to be elected President more than twice, was one of the central figures of 20th century history. ... JFK redirects here. ...

Kaplan was also criticized for including material that some considered neither "familiar" nor quotable, including pop culture quotes that some thought were not worthy of inclusion. The same criticisms would be leveled against the seventeenth edition (2003), which included entries for the first time from J.K. Rowling, Jerry Seinfeld, and Larry David. The seventeenth edition did include more Reagan material, and Kaplan told USA Today after its publication "I admit I was carried away by prejudice. Mischievously I did him dirty." Popular culture, or pop culture, is the vernacular (peoples) culture that prevails in a modern society. ... 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Joanne Rowling OBE (born July 31, 1965 in Chipping Sodbury, South Gloucestershire), commonly known as J.K. Rowling (pronunciation: roll-ing; her former students used to joke with her name calling her the Rolling Stone), is a British fiction writer. ... Jerry Seinfeld Jerome Jerry Seinfeld (born April 29, 1954 in Brooklyn, New York) is an Jewish American actor, writer and comedian from Massapequa, New York, a Long Island, New York Town. ... Larry David Larry David (born July 2, 1947) is an American actor, writer, producer, and film director from Brooklyn, New York. ... USA Today is a national American newspaper published by the Gannett Corporation. ...

References

In addition to the prefaces of various editions of Bartlett's, the following sources were useful:

• Adam Bakshian, Jr. "Bartlett's familiar quotas". National Review. 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'. USA Today. October 17, 2002.
• James Gleick. "Bartlett Updated". New York Times Book Review. August 8, 1993. 3.
• Roger Kimball. "You Can Look It Up". Wall Street Journal. October 18, 2002.
• Douglas Martin. "Emily Morison Beck, 88, Dies, Edited Bartlett's Quotations". New York Times. March 31, 2004. C13.
• Adam Meyerson. "Editing History". Reader's Digest. 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.

National Review (NR) is a conservative political magazine founded by author William F. Buckley, Jr. ... November 15 is the 319th day of the year (320th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 46 days remaining. ... 1993 is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... January 3 is the 3rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1994 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ... USA Today is a national American newspaper published by the Gannett Corporation. ... October 17 is the 290th (in leap years the 291st) day of the year according to the Gregorian calendar. ... 2002 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ... August 8 is the 220th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (221st in leap years), with 145 days remaining. ... 1993 is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... The Wall Street Journal is an influential international daily newspaper published in New York City, New York with an average daily circulation of 1,800,607 (2002). ... October 18 is the 291st day of the year (292nd in Leap years). ... 2002 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ... March 31 is the 90th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (91st in Leap years), with 275 days remaining, as the final day of March. ... 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The cover of the May 2004 issue of Readers Digest. ... 1994 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ... 1993 is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... 1993 is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ...

External links

• Bartleby's online copy of the 1919 edition