Quotations: A Research Guide

Dictionaries of quotations fulfill many needs: identifying a given quotation, verifying an author, providing suitable quotations for a subject area, and supplying selections from the writings of prominent persons. The library provides a wide assortment of general and specialized quotation dictionaries, and these sources, when properly employed, provide the researcher with an inestimable tool in researching the statements of notable people. This guide introduces researchers to some of the basic informational sources on the topic. The terms and phrases listed in the subject headings below can be used to search for more materials in the library's catalog and research databases. If you need further assistance, please ask a librarian.

Familiar Quotations: A Collection of Passages, Phrases, and Proverbs Traced to Their Sources in Ancient and Modern Literature, 16th ed. by John Bartlett and Justin Kaplan. Boston: Little, Brown, 1992. ISBN: 0316082775.
A standard, comprehensive collection whose primary arrangement is by author (listed chronologically by birth date); indexes are by keyword and author. Earlier editions are useful for quotations omitted in the latest edition.

The Home Book of Proverbs, Maxims, and Familiar Phrases by Burton Egbert Stevenson. New York: Macmillan, 1948.
This comprehensive work is arranged by subject with cross-references to related headings; a keyword index is provided.

The Home Book of Quotations, Classical and Modern, 10th ed. by Burton Egbert Stevenson. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1967.
This comprehensive dictionary of quotations is primarily arranged by subject; author and keyword indexes are provided.

International Thesaurus of Quotations by Rhoda T. Tripp. New York: Crowell, 1970. ISBN: 0690445849.
Primarily arranged by subject, this work is also indexed by author, source, and keyword.

The New Beacon Book of Quotations by Women compiled by Rosalie Maggio. Boston: Beacon Press, 1998. ISBN: 0807067830.
16,000 quotes from 2,600 women—most of them found in no other collection.

A New Dictionary of Quotations on Historical Principles from Ancient and Modern Sources by Henry L. Mencken. New York: Knopf, 1942.
This comprehensive collection, notable for its inclusion of many lesser-known quotations, is arranged only by subject (with cross-references to related headings). No indexes.

The Oxford Dictionary of Modern Quotations by Tony Augarde. New York: Oxford University Press, 1991. ISBN: 019866141X.
Arranged by author, this dictionary supplies a keyword index.

The Quotable Woman, from Eve to 1799 (1985; ISBN: 0871963078) and The Quotable Woman, 1800–1981 (1982; ISBN: 0871965801) compiled by Claudia B. Alexander. New York: Facts On File.
These companion volumes are arranged chronologically by birth date of author; indexes are by author and subject.

Quotations in Black by Anita King. Westwood, CT: Greenwood Press, 1981. ISBN: 0313221286.
Arranged chronologically by birth date of author. Indexed by author, subject, and keyword.

The Wisdom of the Novel: A Dictionary of Quotations by David Powell. New York: Garland, 1985. ISBN: 0824090179.
Arranged by subject, this dictionary draws its quotations from English and American authors published between 1470 and 1900; author, novel, and keyword indexes are provided.

top

Bartlett's Familiar Quotations
www.bartleby.com/100/
Search and browse 11,000 quotations from the 10th edition of Bartlett's published in 1919.

IMDb Movie/TV Quotes Browser
www.imdb.com/Sections/Quotes/
Movie and TV quotes from the Internet Movie Database.

Quoteland.com
www.quoteland.com
Literary, humorous, and random quotations, plus quotations by topic.

Simpson's Contemporary Quotations
www.bartleby.com/63/
10,000 notable quotations from 4,000 sources covering the years 1950 to 1988. Browse subject and author indexes to find quotations with full citations.