Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr, 1861 and 1862

HOLMES, Oliver Wendell, Sr. (1809-1894). Elsie Venner: A Romance of Destiny. Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1861.

Presentation copy of the first edition, inscribed by Holmes to a fellow member of the Saturday Club, with ALS to the recipient tipped in. BAL’s probable first printing, without inserted ad catalogue sometimes present. Inscribed by the author to Edwin Percy Whipple: "from his friend OW Holmes." Whipple was a literary critic and public lecturer who was an ardent promoter of his writer friends. Five years later, Holmes and Whipple would both serve as pallbearers at Nathaniel Hawthorne's funeral. This is the first of Holmes's "medicated novels"—and clearly inspired by Hawthorne's Rappaccini's Daughter. The title character's mother is bitten by a rattle-snake while she is in utero, giving her daughter strange serpentine powers. The narrative was first serialized in The Atlantic Monthly in 1859. BAL 8801.

Two volumes, octavo (183 x 106mm). Ad leaf at front of vol 2 (even toning). Original brown blindstamped cloth with brown endpapers (a bit rubbed); in modern chemises together in a half morocco slipcase. Provenance: Edwin Percy Whipple, 1819-1886, American essayist (presentation inscription) – Donald Stralem (morocco book label).

[With:] HOLMES, Oliver Wendell, Sr. (1809-1894). Songs in Many Keys. Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1862. Inscribed presentation copy from the author to F.H. Hedge, the founder of the Transcendental Club. Octavo (183 x 119mm). Original cloth, modern chemise and half morocco slipcase. Provenance: Frederick Henry Hedge, 1805-1890 (presentation inscription from the author, undated) – Donald Stralem (morocco book label).