April 12, 2024
1858 cover Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr to Utopian John Humphrey Noyes with letter
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Very clean cover with handwritten enclosure in superb condition. A little research on good old Wikipedia, etc., will result in some real conjecture concerning this epistle. Holmes was by this time a prominent lecturer. While anti-slavery, he was an outspoken critic of the radical abolitionists, of whom Wendell Phillips was a leading and controversial spokesman. John Humphrey Noyes was probably even more controversial than Phillips, and is known for his radical Utopian religious views, including his advocacy of "free love." He appears to also have been a pioneer in the philosophical and perhaps practical application of Eugenics.Text of Holmes's letter is as follows: "Dear Sir,I shall be contented with the same fee as that paid Wendell Phillips -- twenty dollars.Yours truly,O W HolmesBoston Dec 41858." It would appear that Holmes is engaging in some not-so-subtle commentary on his opinion of Phillips, and perhaps also of Noyes. Perhaps a student of the times and especially of the details of New England politics and personalities can make sense of what exactly Noyes may have requested of Holmes (my assumption is a speech or debate appearance, but this is a completely wild guess) and perhaps of the personal relationships of the 3 men, who had doubtless interacted over the years, given their common backgrounds, institutional associations,
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