John Bartlett (publisher)
Encyclopedia
John Bartlett was an American writer and publisher whose best known work, Bartlett's Familiar Quotations
, has been continually revised and reissued for a century after his death.
Pilgrims Love Brewster
, a founder of the town of Bridgewater, Massachusetts
; Elder William Brewster
, the Pilgrim colonist leader and spiritual elder of the Plymouth Colony
; and John Alden
, who was hired as a cooper in Southampton, England, just before the voyage to America and who along with the Brewsters were signers of the Mayflower Compact
. His mother was a direct descendant of Anthony and Elizabeth Thacher who were the sole survivors of a terrible shipwreck on August 14, 1635 in which twenty one passengers including their four children were drowned. Thacher Island
, a small island off Cape Ann
on the Massachusetts
coast in the United States
is named after them.
A very bright boy, he was reading at age three and had read the entire Bible
by nine. He finished school at age sixteen and went to Cambridge, Massachusetts
, where he worked for the University Bookstore that served Harvard
. By age twenty-nine 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.
He began keeping a commonplace book of quotations to answer queries and in 1855 privately printed the first edition of his Familiar Quotations. That edition of 258 pages contained entries from 169 authors. One-third of the book was quotations from the Bible and from the works of William Shakespeare
, most of the balance being lines from the great English poets.
Bartlett sold the bookstore in 1862 to become a paymaster
in the United States Navy
during the Civil War
. He served on the South Atlantic station, returning to Boston
in 1863 to join the firm Little, Brown and Company
. That 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 from the firm in 1889. In addition to work on quotations (he oversaw nine editions of his book), he wrote on fishing
, and chess
, and compiled a massive concordance
of Shakespeare, published in 1894, that is still the standard work of its kind.
The concordance, which Bartlett estimated consumed 16,000 hours of his time, was compiled with his wife Hannah, the daughter of Sidney Willard
, a professor of Hebrew
at Harvard, and the granddaughter of Joseph Willard
, president of Harvard. He died in Cambridge, Massachusetts aged 85 and is buried at Mount Auburn Cemetery
in Cambridge, Middlesex County, Massachusetts
.
the author of Dictionary of Americanisms.
.
His Familiar Quotations is now in its seventeenth edition and is still published by Little, Brown.
Bartlett's Familiar Quotations
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...
, has been continually revised and reissued for a century after his death.
Biography
Bartlett was born in Plymouth, Massachusetts, to William Bartlett and Susan Thacher. His father was a descendant of MayflowerMayflower
The Mayflower was the ship that transported the English Separatists, better known as the Pilgrims, from a site near the Mayflower Steps in Plymouth, England, to Plymouth, Massachusetts, , in 1620...
Pilgrims Love Brewster
Love Brewster
Elder Love Brewster was an early American settler, the son of Elder William Brewster and his wife, Mary Brewster. He traveled with his father, mother and brother, Wrestling, on the Mayflower reaching what became the Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts in 1620...
, a founder of the town of Bridgewater, Massachusetts
Bridgewater, Massachusetts
For geographic and demographic information on the census-designated place Bridgewater, please see the article Bridgewater , Massachusetts.The Town of Bridgewater is a city in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States, 28 miles south of Boston. At the 2000 Census, the population was 25,185...
; Elder William Brewster
William Brewster (Pilgrim)
Elder William Brewster was a Mayflower passenger and a Pilgrim colonist leader and preacher.-Origins:Brewster was probably born at Doncaster, Yorkshire, England, circa 1566/1567, although no birth records have been found, and died at Plymouth, Massachusetts on April 10, 1644 around 9- or 10pm...
, the Pilgrim colonist leader and spiritual elder of the Plymouth Colony
Plymouth Colony
Plymouth Colony was an English colonial venture in North America from 1620 to 1691. The first settlement of the Plymouth Colony was at New Plymouth, a location previously surveyed and named by Captain John Smith. The settlement, which served as the capital of the colony, is today the modern town...
; and John Alden
John Alden
John Alden is said to be the first person from the Mayflower to set foot on Plymouth Rock in 1620. He was a ship-carpenter by trade and a cooper for Mayflower, which was usually docked at Southampton. He was also one of the founders of Plymouth Colony and the seventh signer of the Mayflower Compact...
, who was hired as a cooper in Southampton, England, just before the voyage to America and who along with the Brewsters were signers of the Mayflower Compact
Mayflower Compact
The Mayflower Compact was the first governing document of Plymouth Colony. It was written by the colonists, later together known to history as the Pilgrims, who crossed the Atlantic aboard the Mayflower...
. His mother was a direct descendant of Anthony and Elizabeth Thacher who were the sole survivors of a terrible shipwreck on August 14, 1635 in which twenty one passengers including their four children were drowned. Thacher Island
Thacher Island
Thacher Island is a small island off Cape Ann on the Massachusetts coast in the United States. It is a part of the Town of Rockport. It was a place where some naval confrontations, both minor and major, took place, which helped secure victory for the colonists. The island, named after Anthony...
, a small island off Cape Ann
Cape Ann
Cape Ann is a rocky cape in northeastern Massachusetts on the Atlantic Ocean. The cape is located approximately 30 miles northeast of Boston and forms the northern edge of Massachusetts Bay. Cape Ann includes the city of Gloucester, and the towns of Essex, Manchester-by-the-Sea, and...
on the Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
coast in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
is named after them.
A very bright boy, he was reading at age three and had read the entire Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
by nine. He finished school at age sixteen and went to Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
, where he worked for the University Bookstore that served Harvard
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. By age twenty-nine 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.
He began keeping a commonplace book of quotations to answer queries and in 1855 privately printed the first edition of his Familiar Quotations. That edition of 258 pages contained entries from 169 authors. One-third of the book was quotations from the Bible and from the works of William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
, most of the balance being lines from the great English poets.
Bartlett sold the bookstore in 1862 to become a paymaster
Paymaster
A paymaster often is, but is not required to be, a lawyer . When dealing with commission payments on contracts dealing with large amounts of money , most banks in the United States are very wary of handling such large amounts of money...
in the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
during the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. He served on the South Atlantic station, returning to Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
in 1863 to join the firm Little, Brown and Company
Little, Brown and Company
Little, Brown and Company is a publishing house established by Charles Coffin Little and his partner, James Brown. Since 2006 it has been a constituent unit of Hachette Book Group USA.-19th century:...
. That 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 from the firm in 1889. In addition to work on quotations (he oversaw nine editions of his book), he wrote on fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
, and chess
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
, and compiled a massive concordance
Concordance (publishing)
A concordance is an alphabetical list of the principal words used in a book or body of work, with their immediate contexts. Because of the time and difficulty and expense involved in creating a concordance in the pre-computer era, only works of special importance, such as the Vedas, Bible, Qur'an...
of Shakespeare, published in 1894, that is still the standard work of its kind.
The concordance, which Bartlett estimated consumed 16,000 hours of his time, was compiled with his wife Hannah, the daughter of Sidney Willard
Sidney Willard
Sidney Willard was a Massachusetts academic and politician who served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, on the Massachusetts Governor's Council and as the second Mayor of Cambridge, Massachusetts....
, a professor of Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
at Harvard, and the granddaughter of Joseph Willard
Joseph Willard
Joseph Willard was a U.S. Congregational clergyman and academic. He was educated at the Dummer Academy and Harvard College and served as pastor in Beverly, Massachusetts...
, president of Harvard. He died in Cambridge, Massachusetts aged 85 and is buried at Mount Auburn Cemetery
Mount Auburn Cemetery
Mount Auburn Cemetery was founded in 1831 as "America's first garden cemetery", or the first "rural cemetery", with classical monuments set in a rolling landscaped terrain...
in Cambridge, Middlesex County, Massachusetts
Middlesex County, Massachusetts
-National protected areas:* Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge* Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge* Longfellow National Historic Site* Lowell National Historical Park* Minute Man National Historical Park* Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge...
.
Note
John Bartlett should not be confused with John Russell BartlettJohn Russell Bartlett
John Russell Bartlett was an American historian and linguist.-Biography:Bartlett was born in Providence, Rhode Island...
the author of Dictionary of Americanisms.
Honors
Bartlett received an honorary degree from Harvard in 1871. In 1892, he was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and SciencesAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
.
His Familiar Quotations is now in its seventeenth edition and is still published by Little, Brown.
Further reading
- 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 GleickJames GleickJames Gleick is an American author, journalist, and biographer, whose books explore the cultural ramifications of science and technology...
. "Bartlett Updated". New York Times Book Review. August 8, 1993. 3.
External links
- Thacher Island Association
- Online copy of the 10th edition (1914) at Bartleby.comBartleby.comBartleby.com is an electronic text archive, headquartered in New York and named after Herman Melville's story "Bartleby the Scrivener". It was founded under the name "Project Bartleby" in January 1993 by Steven H. van Leeuwen as a personal, non-profit collection of classic literature on the website...
(text pages, searchable) - Online copy of the 12th edition (1951) at Archive.org
- Online copy of the 14th edition (1968) at Archive.org (PDF, OCR text, TIFF)