The new edition of the Chambers Dictionary of Quotations makes a strong appeal to the modernist with its dust jacket image of Martin Luther King Jr giving an address. (This is in marked contrast to the emphasis on the past of the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, which has fine art reproductions on the dust jackets of its various editions.) Chambers may seek to convey this image as the younger of the two dictionaries (it was first published in 1996 and is now in its second edition). By contrast, the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations has been going since 1941 and is now in its sixth edition (Knowles, 2004).
After a very brief introduction, the Chambers Dictionary of Quotations launches into its list of quotations, arranged alphabetically by the author of the quotation. The quotations of about 4,000 individuals are included and 1,000 of the quotations are new to this edition. Sources of quotations include contemporary figures such as Giorgio Armani (not a man of many quotations), George W. Bush (whose quotations are very amusing in a rather scary way), Bill and Hilary Clinton (whose quotations contrast interestingly with one another) and Charlton Heston (in his capacity as gun lobbyist). Although the modern, up to date character of this volume seems to be what its publishers seek to emphasise, there are quotations from all sorts of notable sources, spoken or written, past or present, from any language or part of the world. The authors of the quotations include writers, critics, politicians, journalists, scientists, industrialists, entertainers and sportspeople (p. v).
Because the originators of the quotations are arranged in alphabetical order, one finds some interesting juxtapositions: Diane Abbott rubbing shoulders with Peter Abelard; Thomas à Becket standing next to David Beckham (one of whose quotations is, “It's not easy when someone pulls your ponytail” (p. 68)). In some cases, the quotation stands on its own merits, a pithy phrase that encapsulates a universal truth, such as Abelard's “We do not easily suspect evil of those whom we love most” (p. 1) (quoted in the original Latin with an English translation). In other cases, some knowledge of the person making the quotation is needed in order to understand its significance. An example of this is the following quotation by Jonathan Aitken: “If it falls upon me to start a fight to cut out the cancer of bent and twisted journalism in our country with the simple sword of truth and the trusting shield of British fair play, so be it” (p. 9). A very brief biography is provided for each author that may help the reader better to understand the significance of the quotation. A dependable source (often with a few contextual notes) and a date have been given for quotations where possible (p. v). Sometimes quotations are cross‐referenced to similar quotations; for instance, “Honey, I forgot to duck” was said by Jack Dempsey to his wife when he was knocked out by Gene Tunney in 1926 (p. 261) and repeated by Ronald Reagan to his wife when wounded in an attempted assassination in 1981 (p. 680).
There are a number of ways of using this dictionary. Once can browse very enjoyably through the names of the individuals quoted, looking to see who said what. The dictionary is also set up to accommodate more businesslike intentions such as looking for famous quotations on a particular subject (maybe for an essay) or identifying the author of a tantalising quotation. The final third of the book indexes quotations by keyword. How easy is it to use the index? I tried to find out who said, “Absolute power corrupts absolutely”. I looked under “absolute”. It was not there. It was not under “absolutely” either. I looked under “power”. The quotation was far from obvious. I found a reference to “corruption of power” and “power as corrupter” which took me to quotations by Bronowski and Shelley respectively, but not to the quotation for which I was looking. It was not under “corrupt”, “corrupter” or “corruption”. I went back to “power” and finally found it under “power tends to corrupt”. It is much easier to find this quotation in the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations. Look under “absolute” and there it is, although it is not listed under “power”. (In case you are now wondering who said “absolute power corrupts absolutely”, it was John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton, 1st Baron Acton of Aldenham.)
In terms of other differences between Chambers and Oxford, Chambers is stronger on American figures (even though it is not an American dictionary), whereas Oxford gives the impression of having a large amount of respect for figures from pre‐modern times. Otherwise, the organization of the two dictionaries of quotations is very similar.
