Soundings from the Atlantic
by HOLMES, Oliver Wendell
Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1864. FIRST EDITION. Title in red and black. Full green morocco, gilt spine and dentelles, with maroon glazed end-papers. An excellent copy from the library of Jonas Bikoff with his bookplate. First edition of this group of essays. Included are the first book appearance of Holmes’ three famous essays on photography: The stereoscope and the stereograph; Sun-painting and sun-sculpture; and Doings of the sunbeam. All of the remaining titles are collected here for the first... Read More
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An introductory lecture, delivered at the Massachusetts Medical College, November 3, 1847
by HOLMES, Oliver Wendell
Boston: William D. Ticknor & Company, 1847. FIRST EDITION. Original printed wrappers, spine chipped, top wrapper detached. Ink stamp of the Rhode Island Historical Society to top wrapper and title. Presentation inscription from Usher Parsons on wrapper. First edition, second or third state of wrapper, with the publisher’s advertisements printed on the bottom wrapper. Holmes gave this lecture to the medical class of Harvard University. Usher Parsons (1788-1868) began his career as a naval surgeon. After retiring... Read More
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The autocrat of the breakfast table
by HOLMES, Oliver Wendell
Boston: Phillips, Sampson, and Company, 1859. SECOND EDITION. Title in red and black. Pebbled cloth over beveled boards, decorated in blind. Inscriptions to fly-leaf, “Miss Sally Gardner, from her friend and cousin OW Holmes,” and “F.L. Higginson-1866.”. Second edition. Presentation copy to Holmes’ cousin Miss Sally Gardner. One of the few impressions issued before the failure of the firm Phillips, Sampson, and Company in 1859. C&T, pp. 73-75.
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Urania: A rhymed lesson. Pronounced before the Mercantile Library Association, October 14, 1846
by HOLMES, Oliver Wendell
Boston: William D. Ticknor & Company, 1846. FIRST EDITION. Original blue printed front wrapper. Inscribed by Holmes on front wrapper to J.A. Lowell Esq. Preserved in a cloth folding case. First edition of this lively poem. BAL, 8745; C&T, p. 38; Ives, 125.
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Currents and counter-currents in medical science. An address delivered before the Massachusetts Medical Society, at the annual meeting, May 30, 1860
by HOLMES, Oliver Wendell
Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1860. FIRST EDITION. Original printed wrappers, soiled. A fantastic copy from the library of Carroll Atwood Wilson, with his bookplate. Preserved in a slip-case. Second edition, a great deal more scarce than the first, with seven additional pages. This edition includes the obituaries of the deceased members of the Massachusetts Medical Society. Holmes wrote the obituaries for both Dr. Marshall Sears Perry and Dr. Joseph Roby. With manuscript correction in Holmes’ hand on page 22.... Read More
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The autocrat of the breakfast table
by HOLMES, Oliver Wendell
Boston: Phillips, Sampson and Company, 1858. FIRST EDITION. Half title, woodcut title, second title in red and black, and 8 woodcut plates. Original blue pebbled publisher’s cloth, the rare binding with 5 rings in gilt on the spine, decorated in blind; endpapers printed with publisher’s advertisements. First edition, first printing, with the very rare binding containing 5 rings on the spine, and with the publisher’s advertisement end-papers. Contains not only the famous essays on the intellectual and cultural life... Read More
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The professor at the breakfast table; with the story of Iris
by HOLMES, Oliver Wendell
Boston and Philadelphia: Ticknor and Fields; J.B. Lippincott, 1860. FIRST EDITION IN BOOK FORM. Original pebbled brown cloth, decorated in blind. Aside from a loose gathering, a lovely copy, with a clean binding and interior. First edition in book form. With the rare double imprint. This work first appeared serially in The Atlantic Monthly. It contained the first printing of several poems, including De Sauty, The opening of the piano, The two streams, and Under the violets. BAL, 8791;... Read More
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Currents and counter currents in medical science with other addresses and essays. . .
by HOLMES, Oliver Wendell
Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1861. FIRST EDITION, FIRST ISSUE. Original brown pebbled cloth, decorated in blind. Bookplate of Alfred Sutro. An exquisite copy with a note from Sutro laid in. First edition, first issue. The first collection of Holmes’ medical writings. Included are “Currents and counter-currents in medical science”; “Homeopathy, and its kindred delusions”; “Some more recent views on homeopathy”; “Puerperal fever as a private pestilence”; “Position and prospects of the medical student”; “Mechanism of vital actions”; and “Valedictory... Read More
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Currents and counter currents in medical science with other addresses and essays. . .
by HOLMES, Oliver Wendell
Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1861. FIRST EDITION, FIRST ISSUE. Original green pebbled cloth, decorated in blind. Bookplates of A.W. Lublin and Carroll Atwood Wilson. First edition, first issue. This is the Wilson copy, with the printing errors, as mentioned in Currier and BAL.
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Astraea: the balance of illusions. A poem delivered before the Phi Beta Kappa society of Yale College, August 14, 1850
by HOLMES, Oliver Wendell
Boston: Ticknor, Reed and Fields, 1850. FIRST EDITION. Original yellow printed boards, cover soiled; a few occasional spots to interior, otherwise a clean uncut copy housed in a cloth folding case. Inscription to verso of title. First edition, first printing, state A, without the advertisement between front endpapers; binding A. Until the Cambridge edition of 1895, this poem never appeared as a whole in any of the American editions of Holmes’ collected works. Only seven parts of this work... Read More
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Homeopathy and its kindred delusions; two lectures delivered before the Boston society for the diffusion of useful knowledge
by HOLMES, Oliver Wendell
Boston: William D. Ticknor, 1842. FIRST EDITION. Original calf-backed tan boards, title printed on spine, stained, joints cracked; very light scattered foxing. Preserved in a half-morocco slip-case. First edition. One of three lectures delivered by Holmes before the Boston Society for Useful Knowledge, on the subject of “scientific mysticism.” The subjects of the first and second lectures were, respectively, Astrology and alchemy and Medical delusions of the past. Homeopathy was Holmes’ pet aversion, and his attacks on it aroused... Read More
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“The autocrat of the breakfast table.” In: The Atlantic Monthly, Volumes I-II, pp. 48-57; 312-320; 457-469; 614-625; 734-744; 871-883
by HOLMES, Oliver Wendell
Boston: Philips, Sampson and Company, 1857. FIRST EDITION. Half-morocco and pebbled boards, spine decorated in blind, slightly rubbed at corners and edges of spine. Both volumes inscribed on front paste-down by William Prince, Vol. 2 with his large engraved bookplate. First edition of the first complete year of one of the most important American literary periodicals. It is here that Holmes’ great work was first printed. Ives, 96.
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The autocrat of the breakfast table
by HOLMES, Oliver Wendell
Boston: Phillips, Sampson and Company, 1859. FIRST EDITION, LARGE PAPER ISSUE. With half-title, woodcut title, second title in red and black, and 8 woodcut plates. Original tan pebbled cloth, decorated in blind, with title, author’s name, and 4 rings in gilt to spine. End-papers printed with publisher’s advertisements. Morocco bookplate of Alfred Sutro. A fine copy in a half-morocco slip case. First edition, the large paper issue printed from the same plates as the 12mo. despite having a printed... Read More
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The one hoss shay with its companion poems
by HOLMES, Oliver Wendell
Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1905. Coloured title, each poem with separate coloured half-title, frontispiece, 13 plates and numerous text illustrations, all in colour. Green cloth, decorated in blind with a horse-and-carriage pattern; an absolutely fantastic copy. First colour-illustrated edition. The black and white ink illustrations from the original edition were so popular that Pyle (1853-1911) was asked to reproduce them here in colour. BAL, 9258; C&T, p. 237.
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Elsie Venner: a romance of destiny
by HOLMES, Oliver Wendell
Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1861. FIRST EDITION. Original brown cloth, decorated in blind, title in gilt to spines, chipped at head and foot of spine, some spotting on covers. First edition, probable fourth printing.
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The professor at the breakfast table; with the story of Iris
by HOLMES, Oliver Wendell
London: Sampson Low, Son & Co., 1860. FIRST ENGLISH EDITION. With 2 pages publisher’s advertisements dated November, 1860, and a 16-page publisher’s catalogue dated June, 1863, bound into the back (different leaf size). Original blue pebbled cloth, decorated in blind. Morocco bookplate of Alfred Sutro, small bookbinders label to rear paste-down. First English edition. Includes the poems The boys, A mother’s secret, The crooked footpath, and Iris, her book, amongst many others. C&T, p. 90.
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Poems. New and enlarged edition
by HOLMES, Oliver Wendell
Boston: William D. Ticknor & Company, 1849. FIRST EDITION, FIRST ISSUE. With 4 pages publisher’s advertisements between fly-leaf and paste-down. Original brown cloth, worn, chip at head of spine; interior spotting and browning. Presentation inscription from the author to Mr. Charles G. Eastman on fly-leaf. First edition, first issue. BAL, 8750; C&T, p. 41.
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The autocrat of the breakfast table
by HOLMES, Oliver Wendell
Cambridge: Riverside Press, 1894. Half-title and title in red and black, frontispiece in each volume. With 13 plates. Full vellum, decorated in gilt, top edges gilt. A bright, clean and uncut copy with the bookplates of Carroll Atwood Wilson and Edwin B. Holden. Large paper limited edition, number 1 of 250 numbered printed. Pyle (1853-1911) was one of America’s foremost illustrators known for the timeless quality of his work. Some of the other works written and illustrated by him... Read More
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Over the teacups
by HOLMES, Oliver Wendell
Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1891. FIRST EDITION, FIRST PRINTING. Original green illustrated cloth; some soiling to right edge of top cover, small damp-stain affecting lower right corner of title. Uncut. First edition, first printing, second state, binding C. After a break of fifteen years, Holmes revives his series of imaginary conversations. There was a two-year hiatus for these episodes, originally printed as a monthly contribution in The Atlantic Monthly, when Holmes lost his wife, and... Read More
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Dr. Holmes’s introductory lecture, delivered before the medical class of Harvard University, November 3, 1847
by HOLMES, Oliver Wendell
Boston: William D. Ticknor & Company, 1848. FIRST EDITION. Original printed wrappers, rebacked. An exquisite copy inscribed by Holmes to J.A. Lowell. Preserved in a cloth slip-case. First edition. Without the advertisements on back wrapper, as is often the case in presentation copies. C&T, p. 40; OCLC locates no copies.
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Homeopathy and its kindred delusions; two lectures delivered before the Boston society for the diffusion of useful knowledge
by HOLMES, Oliver Wendell
Boston: William D. Ticknor, 1842. FIRST EDITION. Original calf-backed tan boards, title printed on spine, stained, joints cracked; very light scattered foxing. Preserved in a half-morocco slip-case. First edition. One of three lectures delivered by Holmes before the Boston Society for Useful Knowledge, on the subject of “scientific mysticism.” The subjects of the first and second lectures were, respectively, Astrology and alchemy and Medical delusions of the past. Homeopathy was Holmes’ pet aversion, and his attacks on it aroused... Read More
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The school boy
by HOLMES, Oliver Wendell
Boston: Houghton, Osgood and Company, 1879. FIRST EDITION. With engraved frontispiece, 25 cuts, and 4 engraved plates. Original decorated cloth over beveled boards, with decorated pictorial end-papers, lightly rubbed at corners, as well as head and foot of spine, small tear to top right corner of top board; some off-set browning and spotting to end-papers, and some light spotting to preliminaries. Bookplate of the “House of Whittemore” tipped in to recto of fly-leaf. First edition of this poem, which... Read More
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Works
by HOLMES, Oliver Wendell
Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1892. Each volume with half-title and frontispiece. Half-blue morocco and marbled boards with matching marbled end-papers, spines gilt in compartments, top edges gilt, boards and extremities of spines somewhat worn, with some occasional water spots to covers, bottom cover detached on Volume VI. Autocrat edition, a mixed set with Volume III dated 1900 and Volume VI dated 1895 (all others dated 1892). A complete collection of Holmes’ works, including The autocrat... Read More
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Poems. New and enlarged edition
by HOLMES, Oliver Wendell
Boston: William D. Ticknor & Company, 1849. FIRST EDITION, FIRST ISSUE. Full calf, spine gilt in compartments with red label, gilt rule borders to covers and gilt dentelles, edges gilt. With contemporary ownership inscription to front free end-paper dated Dec., 1848. First edition, first issue, with the characteristic misprint “Perpischore” at the top of page 187. Several of the poems appear here for the first time in book form, including A modest request; Nux postcœnatica; A song of other... Read More
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The autocrat of the breakfast table
by HOLMES, Oliver Wendell
Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1894. Frontispiece in each volume. With 13 plates and text illustrations throughout. Original red cloth, decorated in gilt. Holiday edition, with new plates from re-set type, with illustrations by Howard Pyle. BAL, 9215; C&T, p. 81.
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