Bartlett's Familiar Quotations is an admirable work is a sentiment I wholeheartedly support. First published in 1855, the revised edition contains over 20,000 citations. Newcomers include Mel Brooks, Dr. Seuss, Elvis and John Lennon, which happen to be a few of my favorites.
Bartlett's Familiar Quotations is different than other quotation collections because entries are arranged by author rather than subject. Authors are arranged alphabetically with quotations arranged chronologically. Bartlett's Familiar Quotations also contains a keyword index and details of the source of each quotation listed.
John Bartlett ran a university book store in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 1855, he privately printed A Collection of Familiar Quotations from greats such as William Shakespeare. The book was a success and Bartlett issued three more editions. He then joined the Boston publishing firm Little, Brown and Company and became a senior partner. By the time Bartlett died in 1905, he supervised nine editions of quotations with more than 300,000 copies sold.
Today Justin Kaplan edits Bartlett's Familiar Quotations. In 1993, Kaplan rose to notoriety with his statement, “I'm not going to disguise the fact I despise Ronald Reagan.” Critics claimed the quotations included were intended to make Reagan look ridiculous.
The seventeenth edition of Bartlett's Familiar Quotations contains more Reagan quotes. Kaplan told USA Today after its publication, “I admit I was carried away by prejudice. Mischievously I did him dirty.”
To find out more why Bartlett's Familiar Quotations is an admirable work, check out Wikipedia. To get quotations, visit Barlett's Familiar Quotations at Online Literature.
Since Elvis was quoted, here is a song we all know and love:
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