Cast of the fist of Oliver Wendell Holmes

Bartlett, Truman Howe, 1835-1923 · January 29, 1886

Made at the request of librarian James Read Chadwick, the bronzed fist of Holmes was displayed in the original Holmes Hall of the Boston Medical Library’s building following the memorial meeting on October 30, 1894. The sculptor, Truman Howe Bartlett, claimed that when asked if he would hold a pen while the mould was being made, Holmes refused and, doubling up his fist like a prizefighter's, said,"Take it that way; that does not show the old man’s wrinkles, does it?" Fist of Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-1894) cast in bronze