Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr : 35 books

This 1860 sequel to the author's popular 1858 collection of essays, The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table, continues the genial, conversational quality of its predecessor. In order to continue interest in a second volume, this book is much more aggressive in tone and thought. It questions aspects of...

In this classic of the supernatural, a physician puzzles over seventeen-year-old Elsie’s neurosis and fiery temper—only diagnosing her when he learns that the girl’s mother, while pregnant, was bitten by a poisonous snake. Exploring themes of original sin and redemption in the footsteps of Hawthorne, this 1861 novel coined the term “Boston Brahmin.”

John Motley, the great-grandfather of the subject of this Memoir, came in the earlier part of the last century from Belfast in Ireland to Falmouth, now Portland, in the District, now the State of Maine. He was twice married, and had ten children, four of the first marriage and six of the last. Thomas,...