Poems
by Oliver Wendell Holmes
Hurst & Company, Ca. 1900, New York
CONDITION:
This book is in good condition. Hardcover. This is an antiquarian book that has had a long and illustrious journey through time. Please take a look at the pictures to ascertain the condition and state of this book. Burgundy cloth boards are worn along edges and corners. Heavy fraying to the head/tail of the spine. Bumped corners. Hinges weak. There are several inscriptions and bookseller notes on the end papers. Frontispiece and title page are loose. The text block is crisp and clean.
ATTRIBUTES:
Illustrated edition. Hardcover. No dust jacket. Bound in cloth over boards. This is an antiquarian book that has had a long and illustrious journey through time. Please take a look at the pictures to ascertain the condition of this item.
DESCRIPTION:
This collection brings together the lyrical and narrative verse of Oliver Wendell Holmes, capturing a major voice of nineteenth-century American literature. The contents span diverse thematic terrain, ranging from patriotic and historical subjects to profound meditations on human mortality, spiritual growth, and the natural world. Well-known pieces within his poetic corpus include inspirational rallying cries, philosophical reflections utilizing intricate metaphors, and lighthearted satirical verses that critique rigid social and religious conventions. Through these writings, the volume showcases the characteristic wit, metrical precision, and moral earnestness that defined the author's literary output.
Oliver Wendell Holmes was a prominent American poet, essayist, physician, and polymath who lived from 1809 to 1894. As a professor of anatomy and physiology at Harvard Medical School alongside his literary pursuits, he maintained a dual career that heavily influenced the observational sharpness of his writing. He was a central figure among the New England literary elite, helping to establish The Atlantic Monthly and associating closely with leading intellectuals of his era. Best remembered today as one of the Fireside Poets—alongside contemporaries such as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Ralph Waldo Emerson—Holmes achieved widespread fame and cultural influence during his lifetime.
As a foundational component of nineteenth-century American verse, collections of poetry by Holmes hold a secure place in literary history and educational tradition. His early intervention through verse famously rescued historical landmarks from destruction, cementing his status as a nationally celebrated cultural figure. For literary collectors and enthusiasts of nineteenth-century print culture, these volumes represent the ingenuity of the Boston Brahmin intellectual class and provide a window into an era when poetry served as a primary medium for public discourse, domestic recitation, and moral reflection.
FLASHBACK TO 1900 WHEN THIS BOOK WAS PUBLISHED:
When this book was published in 1900, a bustling New York City inaugurated its first subway line just as the Boxer Rebellion flared in China and Max Planck laid the groundwork for quantum physics. Society stood on the precipice of modernity while mourning the loss of philosophers like Friedrich Nietzsche and welcoming the birth of figures like writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Meanwhile, amidst the booming strains of ragtime music, the Supreme Court wrestled with imperial expansion following the Spanish-American War, capturing an era of relentless technological and geopolitical transformation.
Page Count: 420
Location: LIB-084