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Ambrose Bierce Correspondence File

Description

The Ambrose Bierce Correspondence File consists of letters written by Bierce between 1871 and 1913. Much of the letters are concerned with details of Bierce's multi- volume Collected Works, and a majority are written to the editor of that project, Walter Neale. The letters contain discourse about the contents of the volumes, transportation of proofs, and deadlines.

A good number of the remaining letters are written to Bierce contemporary Silas Orrin Howes (1867- 1918), who edited another collection of Bierce's work, The Shadow on the Dial and Other Essays (1909). These letters are largely concerned with that book and the process of assembling and publishing the Collected Works, although personal details are also present.

The File also contains twenty-three letters to the California author Charles Warren Stoddard (1843-1909). These letters are less business-oriented and more personal, detailing matters such as invitations to dinner and various relationships with literary figures of the era.

Many of the letters feature examples of Bierce's trademark dry wit. Writing to Howes on his birthday, Bierce comments "This is my birthday – I am 366 years old" (HM 7304). Apologizing to Neale for a long-winded reaction to criticism, Bierce writes "You happen to be standing in the channel of my verbal flood" (HM 10254). And, writing to Neale on December 26, 1909, Bierce says "I trust you had a Christmas. Fill in your own adjective" (HM 10275).

Bierce was also prone to insightful quips, such as "The least one can do is what one commonly does" (HM 10237), "The conviction that all men are rogues is quite as disastrous to one's interest as the conviction that no one is" (HM 10282), and "Good substitutes for truth are not so plentiful as some persons imagine" (HM 10207).

Almost all the letters are autographed and signed, and some include the envelope.

The File also contains an annotated printer's copy of Volume VIII of Bierce's Collected Works, which consists of "Negligible Tales" and "Kings of Beasts" (HM 10458).

Type
Manuscripts(Opens in new tab)
Date
1871-1913
Call number
mssHM 7294-7308

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