The Harper Book of Quotations 3rd Edition
Editor Fitzhenry neatly characterizes the work in his preface: "This book does not have the rich indices of key words or first lines for any of those seeking detailed and valuable aids." That being said, let's consider what it does have: more than 6,000 quotations, presented under alphabetically arranged topical headings, fromAbility and AchievementtoYouth. The wide variety of persons quoted represents wit past and present, from Shakespeare, Shaw, and Lincoln to William J. Clinton (indexed as "President William F. Clinton"), Gloria Steinem, and Charles M. Schultz. Proverbs of several nations and many biblical passages are also included. More Canadians seem to be included here than in comparable collections: Margaret Atwood, Henri Bourassa, Robertson Davies, John G. Diefenbaker, Wilfrid Laurier, and Hugh McLennan are a few examples. (Fitzhenry is a Canadian publisher.)Previously published as theBarnes & Noble Book of Quotations(Barnes & Noble/Harper & Row, 1983; rev. ed., 1987), this edition's most notable change is the increase in the number of entries. Unfortunately, the troublesome features of the earlier editions are retained: citations are only to the names of authors or speakers, not to titles of works, and the only index is one of personal names. The arrangement by broad subject category makes browsing possible (and enjoyable), but the lack of a keyword index and the cheap paper used make long-term reference use impractical. The paperback edition would be an inexpensive purchase for home libraries, but reference librarians would do better to spend scarce collection dollars on the latest edition ofBartlett's.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.