Beyond the sphere of poetry, the literary reputation of Oliver Wendell Holmes rests largely on the loosely connected series of essays, poems, and aphorisms which forms The autocrat of the breakfast-table. The essays were originally printed in issues of The Atlantic monthly, beginning in November 1857; this is a first edition of their appearance in book form. Three separate impressions of The autocrat were printed between November 12 and December 7, 1858, and, reputedly, some 20,000 copies sold during that period—half of them during the first three days following publication. The passage displayed here reprints Holmes’ own favorite of his poems, “The chambered nautilus.” Frontispiece of The autocrat of the breakfast-table, by Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-1894)
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