Oliver Wendell Holmes THE LAST LEAF POEM 1886 First Edition Illustrated Signed George Wharton Edwards F Hopkinson Smith American Literature Poetry

Title: The Last Leaf Poem
Author: Oliver Wendell Holmes - Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. 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). In addition to his work as an author and poet, Holmes also served as a physician, professor, lecturer, and inventor, and although he never practiced it, he received formal training in law.
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin and Co.
City: Cambridge
Year: 1886
Printing Information: First Edition
Binding Style: Hardcover
Pagination: 50 pages
Width: 9.5" Height: 12.75"
Book Details: This oversized antique volume is decoratively bound in gray and white cloth with gilt lettering and black and gilt pictorial illustration to the front board. This work is profusely illustrated with artwork by George Wharton Edwards and F. Hopkinson Smith. An inscription, possibly by George Wharton Edwards, appears on the front flyleaf.

"The Last Leaf", was inspired in part by a local man named Thomas Melvill, "the last of the cocked hats" and one of the "Indians" from the 1774 Boston Tea Party. Holmes would later write that Melvill had reminded him of "a withered leaf which has held to its stem through the storms of autumn and winter, and finds itself still clinging to its bough while the new growths of spring are bursting their buds and spreading their foliage all around it." Literary critic Edgar Allan Poe called the poem one of the finest works in the English language. Years later, Abraham Lincoln would also become a fan of the poem; William Herndon, Lincoln's law partner and biographer, wrote in 1867: "I have heard Lincoln recite it, praise it, laud it, and swear by it".
Condition / Notes: This decorative antique volume displays some typical indications of age and wear, including shelfwear and rubbing. The binding and text block are sound. Text and illustrations remain clear and crisp through mild age toning/foxing.

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