Rating: 
Summary: Best choice for Brits
Review: The question for most people looking to purchase a book of quotations is whether to get Bartlett's Familiar Quotations or The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations. So perhaps it would be a good idea to compare them and see which might better meet your needs.Both are important works of reference; both are authoritative. Bartlett's latest edition, the 17th is from 2002 while this, the latest Oxford, is from 1999 with a reprint with corrections from 2001. So both are relatively up to date. Bartlett's is a slightly larger book with perhaps 300 more pages; however the number of actual quotations is not that different. Both books quote over 3,000 authors and contain over 20,000 quotations. The most significant difference between them, to my mind, is that in the Oxford, English authors are favored both in terms of number included and entries by, which is to be expected since the Oxford is an British publication while Bartlett's is an American publication. A quick check shows that British mathematician and philosopher Bertram Russell, for example, has more entries in the Oxford than he does in Bartlett's, whereas both Mark Twain and the Baltimore sage, H. L. Mencken, have more entries in Bartlett's than they do in the Oxford. France's Voltaire commands just about the same space in either book. The next most important difference is that the quotations are presented alphabetically by author in the Oxford while Bartlett's presents them chronologically beginning with the oldest. Both sources give author's dates. Personally I find the alphabetical arrangement preferable because it often saves me a trip to the alphabetical "Index of Authors" in Bartlett's that I have to make before finding the author I am interested in. When one is looking for a quote by keyword, which often happens, Bartlett's is slightly to be preferred. Its Index is definitely longer (accounting for most of the difference in length between the books) and it is more extensively cross-referenced. In looking up Marx's "From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs" I found the quote in the Oxford from the keywords "according," "abilities," and "needs." In Bartlett's "according" did not work, but "each," "abilities," and "needs" did. So that was a standoff. However I found the Golden Rule and its source in Bartlett's without any trouble by looking under "Golden Rule" and under "do unto." In the Oxford neither "Golden Rule" nor "do unto" were in the Index of keywords. Both books give Matthew 7:12 as the source. The Oxford has a slightly more international approach to religious texts. There is a little less of the Bible here, but more of the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, the Koran, and other non-Christian texts, except for the Tao Te Ching from Lao Tzu where Bartlett's has 34 entries to 19 for the Oxford. Another feature that the Oxford has that will be handy for some is its "Special Categories" which are "Advertising Slogans" (mostly for products sold in the UK), "Misquotations," "Newspaper Headlines and Leaders," "Political Slogans and Songs," and fifteen more. These are text boxes appearing alphabetically among the quotations. Curiously they give the rather staid Oxford reputation a bit of a colloquial feel that may surprise some people. So how to choose between these two very excellent works of reference? I like them both and if I had to part with either, I would reluctantly let the Oxford go. However if I were English I would part with Bartlett's and keep the Oxford. I really think they are that close in quality. For a secondary consideration, I would prefer the Oxford since its slightly smaller size is a bit handier, especially when balanced on one's chest as one reads in bed! Bottom line: no serious writer (especially of literature, culture and history) should be without either this or Bartlett's. Next to a dictionary a book of quotations is my most consulted work of reference. To solve the dilemma, I recommend that you splurge and get them both!
Rating: 
Summary: Good for long quotations from famous works
Review: This book is very different from the other quotation books I've used. It is well organized and indexed, but a large number of quotes are very large indeed. It is perhaps dominated by the Bible, Shakespeare, and a few other well-know authors/books. If you know something is from Shakespeare and you need to know where (which play, act, etc.), this book is for you. If you just collect quotes, as I do, it isn't all that helpful--Bartlett's is better for that purpose. Also, see Lieberman's 3500 quotes book and, especially, Braude's book of speakers' stories (exceptionally good). So, the Oxford book is a 3 or a 5 depending on how you want to use it. So, I gave it a 4. What can you do? As Virgil (as quoted in the book) says: "Trust one who has gone through it." Great reference text, but not a book to read through, IMHO.
Rating:
Summary: Big, authorative, and extremely well laid-out collection
Review: This book used to be one of the largest around, until others came along. Still, the collection of quotations is one of the best of all, especially when you take an interest in English poets and writers. The book is well laid-out, and now contains short descriptions of the authors of quotations. The book's index is also very good, not quite as extrardinary as Bartlett's, but you will be able to find almost any quotation from it. Highly recommended for both the just-interested browser and the serious quotation-seeker.
Rating:
Summary: Indispensable volume
Review: This is one to have at hand right there by your desk all the time, ready to dip into whenever you get stuck looking for the source of a famous quote. Or one to have in the bathroom, for entertainment during long sessions on the toilet. Or on the bedstand for some light nighttime reading. The updated version seems good enough, though perhaps some might detect a bias towards the English when it comes to the newer entries (but then, it is an English publication). I was also disappointed with a few ommissions (I looked for Keith Waterhouse and Terry Johnson, both British comedy writers, and both sadly absent), but then you can't please all of the people all of the time (...hang on a sec... hmm, looks like that's a garbled version of something Abe Lincoln said... Gee, this thing is useful!). The listings at the top corner of each page are a little annoying, since they give the Christian name first, thus making it slightly more difficult to find something alphabetically, but this is just one minor fault in an otherwise excellently presented publication.
Rating:
Summary: did not get to read that much
Review: would like to read the whole book butam not much on typing or giving reviews.thank you
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