Loving Cup
On his 80th birthday, Holmes received this silver cup, inscribed with a quotation from “A sentiment,” one of his early poems. The gift was from Annie Fields, Sarah Orne Jewett, and nine other women.
Holmes responded to the gift of the cup with a poem, “To the eleven ladies who presented me with a loving cup.” The poem was first printed privately, in just twelve copies; each was signed by Holmes and copies sent to his eleven admirers. One of those copies is displayed here. The poem alludes to the eleven names inscribed on the base and only visible when the cup is empty.
The poem "To the eleven ladies who presented me with a loving cup" was reprinted in Over the teacups (1891), Holmes’ late collection of essays and poems following in the vein of The autocrat of the breakfast-table. This copy of the first edition bears an author’s presentation inscription to Dr. James Read Chadwick of the Boston Medical Library, dated November 9, 1890, the day immediately after its first publication.