THE AUTOCRAT OF THE BREAKFAST-TABLE; By Oliver Wendell Holmes / With Illustrations by HOWARD PYLE

Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin and Company / The Riverside Press, 1893. First Edition Thus Illustrated. Decorated & gilt-stamped cloth. Fine/Mylar-added. Howard Pyle. 2 Volumes, small 8vos (8" x 5 1/4"), original brown publisher's brown decorative cloth with gold lettering and bands on spine leading into 3 fleurs-de-lis on front cover with fancy title, each vol. illustrated with 13 B&W photogravure portraits of OWH (2 being frontispieces) and 43 B&W plates (with tissue guards & titles) by HOWARD PYLE [20 in Vol. I) & 23 in Vol. II, plus head-&-tail pieces; & in-text illustrations; t.e.g. [top edges gilt], black-coated endpapers; 474 pages overall. Weight: 2 lbs. 9 oz. Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. (1809 - 1894) was an American physician, poet, and polymath based 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).<br /> <br /> Howard Pyle (1853 - 1911) was a prominent American illustrator and author, primarily and continuously admired for his splendid illustrations of books for young people.<br /> <br /> In 1830, while attending the city's medical college, Holmes wrote two essays detailing life at his boardinghouse. They were published under the title "The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table" in November 1831 and February 1832 in the New England Magazine.<br /> <br /> The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table (1858) is a collection of Holmes' essays originally published in The Atlantic Monthly in 1857 and 1858 before being collected in book form. <br /> <br /> The essays take the form of a chiefly one-sided dialogue between the unnamed Author and the other residents of a <br /> New England boarding house who are known only by their profession, location at the table or other defining characteristics. The topics discussed range from the unexpected benefits of old age to the finest place to site a dwelling and comments on the nature of conversation itself. The tone of the book is distinctly Yankee and takes a seriocomic approach to the subject matter.<br /> <br /> Each essay typically ends with a poem on the theme of the essay. There are also poems ostensibly written by the fictional disputants scattered throughout.<br /> <br /> FINE SET of this classic of 19th century American literature: tight and clean with very light age-toning. Clean plates. Tissue guards present. Barely any rubbing to the cloth. Bright gilt. Previous owner's bold name on front endpaper of vol. 1. No annotations or marks by previous owners within these handsome illustrated highly "giftable" volumes.<br /> <br /> BAL 8781 (Binding A). Merle Johnson, High Spots of American Literature.