{"product_id":"2026200014055-secondhand-the-autocrat-of-the-breakfast-table-every-man-his-own-boswell","title":"The Autocrat Of The Breakfast-Table: Every Man His Own Boswell","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCondition remarks:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBook: Fair\u003cbr\u003eJacket: N\/A\u003cbr\u003ePages: Good\u003cbr\u003eMarkings: Previous owner\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAt a Boston boarding house breakfast table, a brilliant, opinionated, and endlessly charming monologist holds court — and The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table by Oliver Wendell Holmes is the sparkling record of his wit. First serialised in The Atlantic Monthly in 1857 and subsequently collected in book form, this beloved American classic chronicles the free-ranging, exuberant conversations of the Autocrat and his fellow boarders, touching on everything from poetry and philosophy to science and human nature, all rendered with a warmth and intellectual playfulness that continues to captivate readers over a century and a half later.\n\nHolmes, one of the celebrated Fireside Poets and a towering figure of 19th-century American letters, constructs a work that defies easy categorisation — part essay, part fiction, part verse — and in doing so illustrates the full breadth of his genius. The subtitle, Every Man His Own Boswell, signals Holmes's central ambition: to capture the brilliant, unguarded flow of real conversation in all its digressive glory. Rich in aphorism, gentle irony, and penetrating observation, this edition published by Humphrey Milford under the Oxford University Press imprint brings a landmark of American prose to a new generation of readers — and one can only wonder what the Autocrat himself would have made of the world that followed him.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Secondhand Stock","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49161003663579,"sku":"2026200014055-SECONDHAND","price":10.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0523\/7646\/9701\/files\/8124f17e-868d-441b-9a8d-0a56edf59594.png?v=1787188823","url":"https:\/\/bookgrocer.com\/products\/2026200014055-secondhand-the-autocrat-of-the-breakfast-table-every-man-his-own-boswell","provider":"Book Grocer","version":"1.0","type":"link"}