▁by word ▁in ▁the ▁community ▁when ▁someone ▁was ▁st ump ed . ▁ ▁He ▁began ▁keeping ▁a ▁common place ▁book ▁of ▁quot ations ▁to ▁answer ▁queries ▁and ▁in ▁ 1 8 5 5 ▁priv ately ▁printed ▁the ▁first ▁edition ▁of ▁his ▁Famil iar ▁Qu ot ations . ▁That ▁edition ▁of ▁ 2 5 8 ▁pages ▁contained ▁entries ▁from ▁ 1 6 9 ▁authors . ▁One - third ▁of ▁the ▁book ▁was ▁quot ations ▁from ▁the ▁Bible ▁and ▁from ▁the ▁works ▁of ▁William ▁Shakespeare , ▁most ▁of ▁the ▁balance ▁being ▁lines ▁from ▁the ▁great ▁English ▁po ets . ▁ ▁Bart lett ▁sold ▁the ▁book store ▁in ▁ 1 8 6 2 ▁to ▁become ▁a ▁pay master ▁in ▁the ▁United ▁States ▁Navy ▁during ▁the ▁Civil ▁War . ▁He ▁served ▁on ▁the ▁South ▁Atlantic ▁station , ▁returning ▁to ▁Boston ▁in ▁ 1 8 6 3 ▁to ▁join ▁the ▁firm ▁Little , ▁Brown ▁and ▁Company . ▁That ▁same ▁year , ▁Little , ▁Brown ▁issued ▁the ▁fourth ▁edition ▁of ▁his ▁quot ation ▁book . ▁ ▁He ▁rose ▁to ▁be ▁the ▁firm ' s ▁senior ▁partner ▁in ▁ 1 8 7 8 ▁and ▁retired ▁from ▁the ▁firm ▁in ▁ 1 8 8 9 . ▁In ▁addition ▁to ▁work ▁on ▁quot ations ▁( he ▁o vers aw ▁nine ▁ed itions ▁of ▁his ▁book ), ▁he ▁wrote ▁on ▁fish ing , ▁and ▁ch ess , ▁and ▁compiled ▁a ▁massive ▁conc ord ance ▁of ▁Shakespeare , ▁published ▁in ▁ 1 8 9 4 , ▁that ▁is ▁still ▁the ▁standard ▁work ▁of ▁its