Antique 1881 Shakespeare Phrase Book John Bartlett Leather Boston Little Brown For Sale

The Shakespeare Phrase Book

By John Bartlett
Published: 1881
Publisher: Little, Brown, and Company (Boston)

• Spine: brown calf (or sheep) leather with gilt tooling and title panels
• Boards: marbled paper over boards
• Endpapers: matching marbled paper (a nice touch—often a sign of a slightly better binding tier)
• Corners: leather-tipped (you’ve got visible wear there)

This was a mid-grade “library or gentleman’s shelf” binding—not luxury, but not cheap either. The kind of book meant to be used, quoted, and pulled off the shelf often.

Positives

• Complete, tight
• Clean interior pages
• Strong gilt still visible on spine
• Attractive marbling—still vibrant

Condition issues (value impact)

• Edge/corner wear with some loss
• Spine leather dryness and cracking
• General rubbing to boards

John Bartlett is better known for Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations, but this book is essentially:

• A reference index of Shakespeare phrases
• Designed for writers, speakers, clergy, and educated readers
• Think of it as a Victorian-era search engine for Shakespeare quotes

In 1881:

• No Google, no Ctrl+F—this was how people found quotes fast
• Shakespeare was cultural currency; quoting him well made you sound educated (and still does, frankly)

Boston in 1881:

• A major publishing hub (Little, Brown was a heavyweight)
• Peak of American literary culture and education expansion
• Industrialization booming, but intellectual life still very book-centered

Wider world:

• Post–Civil War America stabilizing and industrializing fast
• Telegraphs everywhere, electricity just starting to emerge
• Medicine still… let’s say “optimistic but experimental”

This book lived in a world where:

• People memorized literature
• Public speaking mattered
• Quoting Shakespeare was basically a social skill