Description
First edition, first printing of The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table by Oliver Wendell Homes Sr. This copy, in the first state binding, is from the collection of American journalist Barton Currie.
Octavo, viii, 373pp. BAL binding “A,” with brown pebbled cloth, border trim stamped in blind to covers, and three fleur-de-lis in gilt on spine. Includes endpapers with advertisements listing “Works of Permanent Value.” Solid text block, touch of wear to edges of spine, a near fine example. The first printing, with all of BAL’s points including: title page printed in black and red, period present after “Company” in publisher’s name, and proper pagination listed. Complete with eight full-page plates and a title vignette. Previous bookseller’s label and previous ownership bookplate of Barton Currie affixed to front endpaper. Includes a letter from the editor of the Saturday Evening Post, Frederick S. Bigelow, about book scouting in New Hampshire and finding this copy of Autocrat. (BAL 8781) Housed in a custom half morocco slipcase with matching chemise. A stunning copy of this literary classic.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809-1894), was a prominent American physician, poet, and essayist of the 19th century. Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, he became a renowned figure in both the medical and literary worlds. Holmes made significant contributions to medicine, particularly in the field of obstetrics, and his literary works, including poems such as “Old Ironsides” and essays like “The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table,” established him as a leading intellectual and humorist of his time.
