These urbane pieces present imaginary conversations at a Boston boardinghouse, reflecting Holmes's opinions, charm, and wit. 1st Printing. Large paper edition, 1859 printing using first printing, first issue plates. Holmes apparently used this edition for gifts. Illustrated with 8 character engravings. BAL 9093. Shiny black leather spine and board tips. 5-ribbed spine with gold decor and red title, author fields. Blue marbled paper covered boards; identical endpapers. All page edges gold gilt. Leather weakening at hinges. Has tiny tiny Goodspeed Boston stamp. For nearly a century, Goodspeed's in Boston was one of the world's pre-eminent rare book shops. The firm was founded in 1898 by Charles Eliot Goodspeed, who recorded the shop's early history in his book, 'Yankee Bookseller', published in 1937. Was likely rebound in leather and marbled endpapers by Goodspeed. Has inscription 'Rebecca/From a friend/JHC/1861'. Rebecca is perhaps Rebecca Blaine Harding Davis (1831-1910), who authored 'Life in the Iron Mills', published in the April 1861 edition of the Atlantic monthly. The successful publication of the short story also provided her with acclaim in the literary circles of her time. In her 1904 memoirs 'Bits of Gossip' she gives details of her 1862 trip to Massachusetts and her visits with Holmes: 'He was literally the autocrat of the young men and women of his time. He opened the depths of their own hearts to them as no one else had done, and they ran to him to pour out their secrets.' 373 pages.

Fiction Antique::General Classics/Collectors Series::Classics large paper