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Peter Gibian explores the key role played by Oliver Wendell Holmes, senior, in what was known as America's "Age of Conversation".Holmes' multivoiced writings can serve as a key to open up the closed interiors of Victorian America, whether in saloons or salons, parlors or clubs, hotels or boarding houses. Combining social, intellectual, medical, legal and literary history with close textual analysis, and setting Holmes in dialoge with Emerson, Hawthorne, Melville, Fuller and Alcott, Gibian radically redefines the context for our understanding of the major literary works of the American Renaissance. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A much-needed in-depth study of Holmes
Gibian did something I would not have guessed possible: he connected all of Dr. Holmes's interests and accomplishments. The commonality, according to Gibian, is conversation and Holmes's mastery of it led him to poetry, novels, teaching, medicine, and placed him at the forefront of "table-talk." It sounded like a stretch to me at first but, I must admit, I was sold on the idea by the end of the first chapter.

This book is likely the greatest in-depth study of Holmes that can ever be written; not one stone was left unturned. To some extent, that depth is a negative for this book. So much information is jam-packed into its 350+ pages of text that it can be quite overwhelming. At times, some of the information he presents seems repetitive or even unnecessary. Don't consider this book a good "intro" to Holmes. In fact, I recommend reading at least "Elsie Venner" and "The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table" before reading this book, if you can. Nevertheless, "Oliver Wendell Holmes and the Culture of Conversation" restores Dr. Holmes as an important figure of 19th-century America whose wide-ranging successes were tied together by his greatest strength: the art of conversation. It would be nice to see this book inspire future scholarship on Dr. Holmes.

The Golden Age of Conversation
According to Gibian, two oral practices flourished in antebellum America: the lecture (or sermon) and the conversation.Lectures, such as Emerson?s "The American Scholar" and sermons, such as the abolitionist sermons of Henry Ward Beecher, are well-known examples of this hyper-speechifying, Chataqua-inspired heavy, Second Great Awakening era.But it was also known as the Golden Age of Conversation, and its greatest practitioner was generally agreed to be Oliver Wendell Holmes, Senior.

Gibian is out to revise and enhance Holmes? current reputation on the basis of a new critical reading.Holmes was considered an important American writer until the 1920s when he was excised from the American canon by the modernists.They depicted him as willfully provincial (because he named Boston the "Hub" of the world), and elitist (he invented the term "Boston Brahmin"). Gibian attempts a rescue by noting that it one of Holmes? characters, a provincial, town booster named "Little Boston" in the "Autocrat of the Breakfast Table" who dubbed Boston the Hub.Gibian suggests that Boston Brahmin was an appellation meant to poke fun of the contemplative, upper class, pedigreed Bostonian who self-consciously removed himself from the hurly-burly of the common run. But much more than placing the "Hub" and "Boston Brahmin" in context, Gibian attempts to show that Holmes encouraged democratic conversation.That unlike his more elitist friends in the Saturday Club, he was a democrat, or a true republican, perhaps.

He does this by suggesting that Holmes? was equal parts house-breaker as house-keeper, invoking Mikhail Bakhtin?s theory of the carnival as appropriate to Holmes? comic, celebratory, and democratic view of American conversation as an open, free-wheeling discourse where anyone could join the Autocrat at his table (as long as they played by his conversation-enlivening rules, one of which seems to be to play the devil?s advocate at all times).Gibian elaborates on those rules at some length, noting philosopher Richard Rorty?s views on how a true dialogue can take place follows many of the same basic rules.

In his detailed examination of Holmes's "The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table." Gibian shows Holmes was attracted to levity (levitation, lightness) through his mother, perhaps as a reaction to his Puritan Minister father?s gravity (grave, gravitas).His portrait of Holmes? early life (he could never stop talking as a boy), his description of Holmes? early readings and re-readings of early Renaissance humorists such as Rabelais, his continual search for bon mots and mot justes in those old texts, his eminent position as the only French-trained doctor in America (whose first paper on puerperal fever is an acknowledged medical classic), help us understand how Holmes came to be able to converse with everyone.The last of the generalists, in the time just before specialization in science arose, he was able to enter into conversations on any subject, draw knowledge from one to inform the other.And, he would take any side in any conversation, to try it on for size, refusing to stick with any position, believing that consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds, a trait that might make him the first multi-perspectivist.

Conversation is dead now, and its slow passing happened concomitantly with the rise of America?s power and industrial prowess, and, of course, the TV, which brings us the great sermons of the happy earthly life of consumption.There are some who say the Internet is bringing back the conversation.But for everyone who says that, there is another expert who tells us of its corrupting power.Meanwhile, the American breakfast and dinner table hears a few spectral conversations around it on the holidays, and the dining room still lingers in the American home.But it is no longer a performance space. Talking just doesn?t seem all that important anymore. For Holmes and his generation there was some urgency in conversation: they were trying to invent a democratic discourse, after all. It was a time when talking, joining clubs and associations, and sharing ideas seemed greatly to matter.After all, the great experiment had only recently begun.And space and race, the two quintessentially American topics, intimately intertwined, were critical issues needing resolution. Eventually, this a conversation that was conducted using different , and deadly, means. ... Read more

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The Poetical Works of Oliver Wendell Holmes - Volume 03: Medical Poems is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Oliver Wendell Holmes is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of Oliver Wendell Holmes then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

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This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

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This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

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This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process.We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

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A complete, correct, and formatted edition of Holmes' classic study of law and judicial development of rules: "the life of the law has not been logic: it has been experience." Features extensive new Foreword by Steven Alan Childress, a law professor at Tulane. Active Table of Contents, linked footnotes with correct numbers, and original pagination for citing. Care in detail, proofreading, and presentation, unlike any previous digital or online version available of this important book.

DECODING KEY to other digital and online versions: docs=does, modem=modern, tiling=thing, ease=case, casement=easement, duly=duty. Etc. However, their book docs one tiling that no modem version of Holmes docs — it brings the eases to lite for vour reacling. And you saved S bucks!

Digital and online sources — sold or free — are simply wrong and unusable (e.g., over 250 footnote 1's, none of them linked; and repeatedly missing crucial words from the inside margins). All these trace back to one poor scan job, even a "2006 corrected" copy. Google Books omits most pages randomly and uses nonstandard page numbers, in a static form no less.

Finally fixed from the original source, and readable to bring the text alive to modern readers, Quid Pro offers, practically, the only usable and intelligible digital forms of this great work today. It also includes, unlike the previous ebooks, Holmes' Preface, detailed Contents outlining the book's argument, and a complete Index.

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. compiled this master work in 1881 from his famous lectures in Boston on the origins, reasoning, and import of the common law. It jump-started legal realism and established law as a pragmatic way to solve problems and make policy, not just a collection of rules. It has stood the test of time as one of the most important and influential studies of law and the development of legal rules. This book is interesting for a vast audience, and considered one of the most original and important books on U.S. law, for historians, students, political scientists, and those who follow the concept of rules. It is also a recommended read before law school or in the first year.

Quid Pro offers high-quality digital editions of classic legal scholarship, plus active footnotes and contents. In addition, each book contains a contemporary Foreword by a legal scholar, to place the works in historical context and give biographical background. Some versions include annotations and explanatory notes, and this classic law work is one also available in such an extended format (as The Annotated Common Law), in addition to this basic but quality-checked edition.

Steven Alan Childress is the Conrad Meyer III Professor of Law at Tulane, and the coauthor of the three-volume treatise, Federal Standards of Review (Lexis, 4th ed. 2010). He earned his law degree from Harvard and an M.A. and Ph.D. from Berkeley. ... Read more

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This volume is produced from digital images created through the University of Michigan University Library's preservation reformatting program. The Library seeks to preserve the intellectual content of items in a manner that facilitates and promotes a variety of uses. The digital reformatting process results in an electronic version of the text that can both be accessed online and used to create new print copies. This book and thousands of others can be found in the digital collections of the University of Michigan Library. The University Library also understands and values the utility of print, and makes reprints available through its Scholarly Publishing Office. ... Read more

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The Poetical Works of Oliver Wendell Holmes - Volume 08: Bunker Hill and Other Poems is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Oliver Wendell Holmes is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of Oliver Wendell Holmes then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

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The Poetical Works of Oliver Wendell Holmes - Volume 01: Earlier Poems (1830-1836) is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Oliver Wendell Holmes is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of Oliver Wendell Holmes then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

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From Poetical Works Of Oliver Wendell Holmes. ... Read more

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Oliver Wendell Holmes served on the U S Supreme Court from 1902 to 1932.He is considered to be one of the most influential judges ever to serve on the court. His wit and concise writing style make his opinions some of the best-written documents to come out of the Supreme Court.Holmes considered law to be the barometer of our moral life.The history of law is also the history of man's moral development.The practice of law makes for better citizens and good men. ... Read more

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This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Product Description
This volume is produced from digital images created through the University of Michigan University Library's preservation reformatting program. The Library seeks to preserve the intellectual content of items in a manner that facilitates and promotes a variety of uses. The digital reformatting process results in an electronic version of the text that can both be accessed online and used to create new print copies. This book and thousands of others can be found in the digital collections of the University of Michigan Library. The University Library also understands and values the utility of print, and makes reprints available through its Scholarly Publishing Office. ... Read more

Product Description
This volume is produced from digital images created through the University of Michigan University Library's preservation reformatting program. The Library seeks to preserve the intellectual content of items in a manner that facilitates and promotes a variety of uses. The digital reformatting process results in an electronic version of the text that can both be accessed online and used to create new print copies. This book and thousands of others can be found in the digital collections of the University of Michigan Library. The University Library also understands and values the utility of print, and makes reprints available through its Scholarly Publishing Office. ... Read more

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The Poetical Works of Oliver Wendell Holmes - Volume 05: Poems of the Class of '29(1851-1889) is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Oliver Wendell Holmes is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of Oliver Wendell Holmes then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

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This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

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Originally published in 1896.This volume from the Cornell University Library's print collections was scanned on an APT BookScan and converted to JPG 2000 format by Kirtas Technologies.All titles scanned cover to cover and pages may include marks notations and other marginalia present in the original volume. ... Read more