Graduated from Harvard in 1836 and practised medicine for 10 years before taking a teaching position at Dartmouth College. In 1847, he returned to Harvard as a professor in anatomy and physiology before becoming dean of the Harvard Medical School. He continued in this post until 1882. Although he had an eminent medical career, Holmes is best known as a poet and humourist. His "Breakfast Table" series was published in the Atlantic Monthly from 1857, and he published these as The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table (1858), The Professor of the Breakfast-Table (1860), The Poet of the Breakfast-Table (1872), and finally, Over the Teacups (1891). Holmes also published a large amount of poetry, the best of which included Old Ironsides (1830), The Chambered Nautilus (1858), The Wonderful One-Hoss Shay (1858). Holmes published a number of essays and some novels including Elsie Venner (1861) and The Guardian Angel (1867). |
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