Holmes, Oliver Wendell

New York. 1961. August 1961. Signet/New American Library. 1st Signet Classic Paperback Edition. Very Good in Wrappers. 0451500539. Afterword By Eleanor M. Tilton. 285 pages. paperback. CD53. Cover: Lambert. keywords: Signet Classic Paperback America Literature 19th Century. FROM THE PUBLISHER - What is love? beauty? human communication? What is important in life and where should it be sought? These are the issues - the underlying themes - set forth by the Autocrat each morning on Beacon Hill. With wit and deviltry, he teases and lectures his fellow breakfasters on such varied subjects as quacks, the simple pleasures, mutual admiration societies, the poverty of logic, the evils of specialized learning, the superiority of aristocrats over self - made men. Dr. Holmes was the most brilliant conversationalist in Boston, the 'Hub of the Universe,' and his essays explored the limitless range of his freethinking mind. He provided an elaborate portrait of the New England liberal intelligence in reaction against itself, the first such self - examination in American letters. This collection, The Autocrat of the Breakfast - Table, made its initial appearance in the first issues of the Atlantic Monthly and was largely responsible for that magazine's early success. inventory #29082 ISBN: 0451500539.