HOLMES, Oliver Wendell. The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table. (PRESENTATION COPY - ARTHUR SWANN'S COPY WITH HIS BOOKPLATE - 1860)

AUTHOR: HOLMES, Oliver Wendell

TITLE: The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table.

PUBLISHER: Boston: Ticknor & Fields, 1860.

DESCRIPTION: PRESENTATION COPY.  1 volume, illustrated, inscribed on the half-title by Holmes which reads "Ms David,/ old friend "Lucy Stimson"/ from Oliver Wendell Holmes/ Sept. 15th 1860." Bound in the publishers pebble grained brown cloth, covers stamped in blind, mild overall handling, housed in a 1/2 brown morocco slipcase, ribbed gilt decorated spine.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: This work was first published in 1858 and is one of the elder Holmes' more popular literary works. The work is a series of essays. A heterogeneous collection of boarders gather around a table, providing an audience for the wit and philosophy of the Autocrat. The essays take the form of conversations that generally develop into monologues. Cleverly and epigram-matically, the seemingly disconnected, is unified by the recurring themes and personalities.