“The Frenchmen have half a century in advance.” — Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. | V2Melody

“The Frenchmen have half a century in advance.”

His lively early assessment of the superiority he perceived in French medical science and education · Letter from Europe, 1835

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

About Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

29 August 1809–7 October 1894

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., born 29 August 1809 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and dead 7 October 1894 in Boston, was one of the most recognizably versatile figures in nineteenth-century American culture: physician, medical reformer, anatomist, professor, poet, novelist, essayist, conversational satirist, and public…

More by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

Poems by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

More remarks by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

“I don’t know that you have told me where it came from.”

A small glimpse of his continuing curiosity about the provenance of objects · Letter concerning a gift of snake skin

“I do not know that such a pre-natal poisoning might not affect the disposition, but I do not assert it.”

A revealing example of scientific caution in distinguishing possibility from proof · Letter to Dr Edwards

“I am really very proud of it, and keep it displayed in my library, where it is a great attraction.”

A glimpse of his delight in unusual objects and natural curiosities · Letter concerning a gift of snake skin