John Bartlett(June 14, 1820 – December 3, 1905) was an American writer and publisher and the editor ofBartlett's Familiar Quotations,which he revised continuously and published in several editions. Since Bartlett's death in 1905, the book has continued to be published in multiple editions, most recently in 2022.
Early life and education
editBartlett was born inPlymouth, Massachusetts,to William Bartlett and Susan Thacher.[1]
His father was a descendant ofMayflowerPilgrims,includingLove Brewster,a founder ofBridgewater, Massachusetts,William Brewster,the Pilgrim colonist leader and spiritual elder of thePlymouth Colony,andJohn Alden,who was a cooper inSouthampton, England,and who along with the Brewsters was a signer of theMayflower Compact.
His mother was a direct descendant of Anthony and Elizabeth Thacher, who were the sole survivors of a shipwreck on August 14, 1635, in which 21 passengers, including their four children, drowned.Thacher Island,a small island offCape Annoff theMassachusettscoast in the United States is named after them.
Bartlett was able to read by age three. By age nine, he read the entireBible.
Career
editHe finished school at age 16, and then moved toCambridge, Massachusetts,where he worked for the University Bookstore that servedHarvard University.By 29-years-old, he owned the store. Known for his memory for quotations and trivia, "Ask John Bartlett" became a byword in the community when someone was stumped.
Bartlett's Familiar Quotations
editBartlett began keeping acommonplace bookof quotations to answer queries. In 1855, he privately printed the first edition of hisBartlett's Familiar Quotations,which was 258 pages long and included notable historical and current quotes from 169 people. One-third of the book was quotations from theBibleand the works ofWilliam Shakespeare,and most of the balance were quotes from the great English poets.
Bartlett sold the bookstore in 1862 to become apaymasterin theU.S. Navyduring theCivil War.He served on the South Atlantic station, and returned toBostonin 1863, joiningLittle, Brown and Company,one of the nation's leading book publishers. Thet same year, Little, Brown issued the fourth edition of his quotation book. He rose to be the firm's senior partner in 1878 and retired in 1889. In addition to his work on quotations, overseeing nine editions of the book, he wrote onfishingandchessand compiled a massiveconcordanceof Shakespeare, published in 1894, that is still the standard work of its kind.[1]
The concordance, which Bartlett estimated consumed 16,000 hours of his time, was compiled with his wife Hannah, the daughter ofSidney Willard,a professor ofHebrewatHarvard University,and the granddaughter ofJoseph Willard,president of Harvard.[1]
Honors
editIn 1971, Bartlett was awarded an honorary degree fromHarvard University.[1]In 1892, he was elected a Fellow of theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences.[2]
In 2022, the 19th edition of hisFamiliar Quotationswas published byLittle, Brown and Company.
Death
editBartlett died inCambridge, Massachusettsat age 85.
Notes
editReferences
edit- Morgan, M.H.Daedalus: proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Volume 41California: American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1906.
Further reading
edit- Jones, Emma C. Brewster.The Brewster Genealogy, 1566-1907: a Record of the Descendants of William Brewster of the "Mayflower," ruling elder of the Pilgrim church which founded Plymouth Colony in 1620.New York: Grafton Press, 1908.
- James Gleick."Bartlett UpdatedArchived2006-12-06 at theWayback Machine".New York TimesBook Review.August 8, 1993. 3.
External links
edit
- Thacher Island Association
- Works by John BartlettatProject Gutenberg
- Works by or about John Bartlettat theInternet Archive
- Online copy of the 10th edition (1914)atBartleby.com(text pages, searchable)
- Online copy of the 12th edition (1951)atArchive.org
- Online copy of the 14th edition (1968)atArchive.org(PDF, OCR text, TIFF)