John Bartlett’s collection began as a small thin volume and grew through eight enlarged editions; this ninth arranges its passages author by author in chronological order, starting with Chaucer and Thomas à Kempis. Each quotation is traced to its exact source, and copious footnotes follow phrases back through earlier writers, down to the anecdotes of Athenaeus.
The quotation book that became an American byword, still the quickest way to learn where a familiar phrase first appeared. Download the free EPUB.