JOHN BARTLETT. 845 



both of Harvard University and both Fellows of this Academy. A true 

 helpmate, her sympathies were wholly with him in all his undertakings, 

 and their ideal union seemed only accentuated by the devotion with 

 which he gave himself up to the care of her when, in her last years, her 

 mind was clouded and she knew not what she said or did. 



In the course of his business Mr. Bartlett had good opportunities to 

 acquire books for himself, and he employed them well. His own library 

 was in general large and excellent, but in two subjects it was that of a 

 specialist. For many years he was a devoted angler, especially for trout 

 and black bass. Lowell's poem addressed " To Mr. John Bartlett, who 

 had sent me a seven-pound trout " is well known. Naturally, therefore, 

 he began to collect books on his favorite sport, and in 1882 published a 

 catalogue* of his collections. In 1892 he presented this collection, num- 

 bering 1014 volumes aud 269 pamphlets, to the Harvard College Library, 

 which in turn put forth a complete account of it in the series of 

 Bibliographical Contributions.! His other and smaller collection, also 

 presented to the College, was of Proverbs and Emblems, 140 volumes 

 under the former head, 130 under the latter. 



Such were the occupations of this busy man ; but he was also a lover of 

 social life and blest with close friendships. His sense of humor and his 

 never-failing cheerfulness made him a delightful companion, and even in 

 his extreme old age, although he abounded in anecdotes of the past, he 

 never lost his interest in the affairs of the day. In his prime he was a 

 member of the Somerset, Union, Temple, and St. Botolph clubs ; he also 

 belonged to the Colonial Society of Massachusetts, to the Boston Society 

 of Sons of the Revolution, and was in 1894 elected an honorary member 

 of the Harvard Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa. For many years the 

 famous whist club, composed of himself, James Russell Lowell, John 

 Holmes, and Charles F. Choate, met at his house, and when it was dis- 

 solved by the death of two of its members and the removal of a third, 

 some of his younger neighbors formed what they called the " Bartlett 

 Club " to enliven his evenings by coming together there once a week. 

 Thus loving friends surrounded him as he "declined into the vale of 



* Catalogue of Books on Angling, including Ichthyology, Pisciculture, Fisheries, 

 and Fishing Laws. From the Library of a practitioner of more than fifty years' 

 experience in the Art of Angling. Cambridge, 1882, 4°, pp. 77. Supplement, 

 Cambridge, 1886, pp. 26. 



t No. 51. The Bartlett Collection. A list of books on Angling, Fishes and Fish 

 Culture, in Harvard College Library, by L. R. Albee. Cambridge, 1896. 



