BIERCE, AMBROSE. (1842-1914?). American satirist, journalist, and short-story writer. ALS. (“Ambrose Bierce”). 2pp. 8vo. On two sheets. The Laguna Vista, Oakland, October 14, 1910. To Mrs. (FRANCES A.) TOWLE, NÉE STAPLES, 1849-1925; wife of California lumber baron George Washington Staples).
“My time is engaged for a few days ahead, and next week I shall have to go to the country for a day or two; so I can not say now when I can give myself the pleasure of calling on you. But although belonging to one of those ‘nations that forget God,’ I shall not forget you…”
Ambrose Bierce’s macabre stories reflect the adventure and mystery of his turbulent life. A Civil War veteran, Bierce settled in San Francisco where his satirical and scathing observations soon appeared in several newspapers including, beginning in 1887, the influential William Randolph Hearst’s San Francisco Examiner. During the next several decades, Bierce became one of the leading journalists of his time writing for various Hearst publications. As such, one of his most notable achievements was bringing public scrutiny to bear on the powerful railroad interests then dominating California and federal politics. However, Bierce was also popular for his “Cynic’s Dictionary” column in The Examiner, a reincarnation of his “Devil’s Dictionary” column previously published in California periodicals in which Bierce offered satirical definitions for commonplace words. In 1906, Doubleday published the first volume of Bierce’s dictionary, letters A-L and the second installment, including definitions from M to Z, was published in his Collected Works in 1911.
