1886 The Last Leaf Poem by Oliver Wendell Holmes Art Nouveau Illustrations

  

The Last Leaf Poem by Oliver Wendell Holmes Illustrated by George Wharton Edwards & F. Hopkinson Smith, Houghton Mifflin & Co. The Riverside Press, Cambridge, 1886, 50 pp, decorative grey and cream cloth, 13 x 9.75, folio. Soiling to cloth and cream linen spine with darkened edges and fingersoiling. Slight split along front joint at bottom and top edges.

Gilt remains bright and clean. Spine darkened from soiling and time. Corners rubbed with light fraying. Small abrasions to surface of cloth overall.

End papers slightly toned and age stained, free of markings or ownership. Facsimile letter of Holmes' and a portrait are placed inside. Instances of fingersoiling at the margins with light toning throughout.

Binding remains tight and intact. Beautifully illustrated Art Nouveau of The Last Leaf. Grouped among the fireside poets, American physician and poet Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. 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). He was also an important medical reformer. In addition to his work as an author and poet, Holmes also served as a physician, professor, lecturer, inventor, and, although he never practiced it, he received formal training in law.