On eBay Now...RARE "19th Century Rireside Poets" Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr Cut Signature COA For Sale
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RARE "19th Century Rireside Poets" Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr Cut Signature COA:
$399.99
Up for sale a RARE! "Rireside Poets" Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr Cut Signature.
ES-3259
Oliver Wendell Holmes (/hoʊmz/; August 29, 1809 – October 7, 1894) was in Boston. A member of the Fireside Poets, he was acclaimed by his peers as one of the
best writers of the day. His most famous prose works are the
"Breakfast-Table" series, which began with The Autocrat
of the Breakfast-Table (1858). He was also an important
medical reformer. In addition to his work as an author and poet, Holmes also
served as a physician, professor, lecturer and inventor and, although he never
practiced it, he received formal training in law. Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts,
Holmes was educated at Phillips Academy and Harvard College. After graduating from Harvard in 1829, he
briefly studied law before turning to the medical profession. He began writing
poetry at an early age; one of his most famous works, "Old Ironsides", was
published in 1830 and was influential in the eventual preservation of the USS Constitution. Following training at the
prestigious medical schools of Paris, Holmes was granted his Doctor of Medicine degree
from Harvard Medical School in
1836. He taught at Dartmouth Medical School before
returning to teach at Harvard and, for a time, served as dean there. During his
long professorship, he became an advocate for various medical reforms and
notably posited the controversial idea that doctors were capable of
carrying puerperal fever from
patient to patient. Holmes retired from Harvard in 1882 and continued writing
poetry, novels and essays until his death in 1894. Surrounded by Boston's
literary elite—which included friends such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow,
and James Russell Lowell—Holmes
made an indelible imprint on the literary world of the 19th century. Many of
his works were published in The Atlantic Monthly, a magazine that he named. For his
literary achievements and other accomplishments, he was awarded numerous
honorary degrees from universities around the world. Holmes's writing often
commemorated his native Boston area, and much of it was meant to be humorous or
conversational. Some of his medical writings, notably his 1843 essay regarding
the contagiousness of puerperal fever, were considered innovative for their
time. He was often called upon to issue occasional poetry, or poems written
specifically for an event, including many occasions at Harvard. Holmes also
popularized several terms, including Boston Brahmin and anesthesia. He was the father of Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. of
the Supreme Court of the
United States.