A. FIRST APPEARANCES
“The Demon’s Dictionary,” NL, 25, no. 46 (11 Dec. 1875): 13. 48 definitions. Unsigned.
“The Devil’s Dictionary,” W. 79 columns:
No. 240 (5 Mar. 1881): 149.24 definitions. Unsigned.
No. 241 (12 Mar. 1881): 165. 23 definitions. Unsigned.
No. 242 (19 Mar. 1881): 182. 20 definitions. Unsigned.
No. 243 (26 Mar. 1881): 198. 20 definitions Unsigned.
No. 244 (2 Apr. 1881): 214 [misnumbered 212]. 15 definitions. As by B.
No. 245 (9 Apr. 1881): 227.10 definitions. Unsigned.
No. 246 (16 Apr. 1881): 243.10 definitions. Unsigned.
No. 247 (23 Apr. 1881): 259.15 definitions. As by B.
No. 248 (30 Apr. 1881): 275. 23 definitions. As by B.
No. 249 (7 May 1881): 291.17 definitions. As by B.
No. 250 (14 May 1881): 307.13 definitions. As by B.
No. 251 (21 May 1881): 323.13 definitions. As by B.
No. 253 (4 June 1881): 355.12 definitions. Unsigned.
No. 254 (11 June 1881): 374.10 definitions. As by B.
No. 255 (18 June 1881): 390.13 definitions. As by B.
No. 257 (2 July 1881): 6.14 definitions. Unsigned.
No. 259 (15 July 1881): 37.14 definitions. Unsigned.
No. 262 (5 Aug. 1881; dateline San Francisco, 2 Aug. 1881): 82.11 definitions. Unsigned.
No. 263 (12 Aug. 1881): 103.19 definitions. Unsigned.
No. 265 (26 Aug. 1881): 130.14 definitions. Unsigned.
No. 271 (7 Oct. 1881; dateline San Francisco, 3 Oct. 1881): 227.11 definitions. As by B.
No. 273 (21 Oct. 1881; dateline San Francisco, 15 Oct. 1881): 259.13 definitions. As by B.
No. 274 (28 Oct. 1881): 285.10 definitions. As by B.
No. 276 (11 Nov. 1881): 318.13 definitions. Unsigned.
No. 279 (2 Dec. 1881): 366.7 definitions. As by B.
No. 286 (20 Jan. 1882): 38. 20 definitions. As by B.
No. 290 (17 Feb. 1882): 102.13 definitions. As by B.
No. 292 (3 Mar. 1882): 134.15 definitions. Unsigned.
No. 295 (24 Mar. 1882): 179.12 definitions. Unsigned.
No. 297 (7 Apr. 1882): 211.18 definitions. As by B.
No. 312 (22 July 1882): 459. 9 definitions. Unsigned.
No. 315 (12 Aug. 1882): 501. 7 definitions. Unsigned.
No. 334 (23 Dec. 1882): 834.13 definitions. As by B.
No. 342 (17 Feb. 1883): 11.12 definitions. As by B.
No. 345 (10 Mar. 1883): 3.19 definitions. Unsigned.
No. 352 (28 Apr. 1883): 5.14 definitions. Unsigned.
No. 375 (6 Oct. 1883): 11.12 definitions. Unsigned.
No. 407 (17 May 1884): 6.13 definitions. Unsigned.
No. 408 (24 May 1884): 3.15 definitions. Unsigned.
No. 410 (7 June 1884): 3.16 definitions. Unsigned.
No. 413 (28 June 1884): 6.5 definitions. Unsigned.
No. 418 (2 Aug. 1884): 6. 8 definitions. Unsigned.
No. 425 (20 Sept. 1884): 6.11 definitions. Unsigned.
No. 435 (29 Nov. 1884): 6. 8 definitions. Unsigned.
No. 436 (6 Dec. 1884): 3.5 definitions. Unsigned.
No. 437 (13 Dec. 1884): 6.13 definitions. Unsigned.
No. 441 (10 Jan. 1885): 3.13 definitions. Unsigned.
No. 442 (17 Jan. 1885): 6.4 definitions. Unsigned. (No definitions reprinted in D.)
No. 443 (24 Jan. 1885): 6.10 definitions. Unsigned.
No. 447 (21 Feb. 1885): 6.18 definitions. Unsigned.
No. 448 (28 Feb. 1885): 3.14 definitions. Unsigned.
No. 449 (7 Mar. 1885): 3.11 definitions. Unsigned.
No. 450 (14 Mar. 1885): 3.10 definitions. Unsigned.
No. 452 (28 Mar. 1885): 3.11 definitions. Unsigned.
No. 453 (4 Apr. 1885): 3.10 definitions. Unsigned.
No. 454 (11 Apr. 1885): 3.10 definitions. Unsigned.
No. 456 (25 Apr. 1885): 6.13 definitions. Unsigned.
No. 459 (16 May 1885): 6. 6 definitions. Unsigned.
No. 460 (23 May 1885): 6.16 definitions. Unsigned.
No. 468 (18 July 1885): 5.10 definitions. Unsigned.
No. 471 (8 Aug. 1885): 3.14 definitions. Unsigned.
No. 473 (22 Aug. 1885): 2.16 definitions. Unsigned.
No. 474 (29 Aug. 1885): 3.13 definitions. Unsigned.
No. 476 (12 Sept. 1885): 3.15 definitions. Unsigned.
No. 477 (19 Sept. 1885) : 6.11 definitions. Unsigned.
No. 478 (26 Sept. 1885): 3.11 definitions. Unsigned.
No. 479 (3 Oct. 1885): 6. 7 definitions. Unsigned.
No. 480 (10 Oct. 1885): 3. 9 definitions. Unsigned.
No. 481 (17 Oct. 1885): 6. 8 definitions. Unsigned.
No. 482 (24 Oct. 1885): 6. 5 definitions. Unsigned.
No. 484 (7 Nov. 1885) : 6. 7 definitions. Unsigned.
No. 486 (21 Nov. 1885): 3.13 definitions. Unsigned.
No. 490 (19 Dec. 1885): 6.11 definitions. Unsigned.
No. 493 (9 Jan. 1886): 3.13 definitions. Unsigned.
No. 498 (13 Feb. 1886): 7.11 definitions. Unsigned.
No. 501 (6 Mar. 1886): 6. 9 definitions. Unsigned.
No. 509 (1 May 1886): 2. 6 definitions. Unsigned.
No. 516 (19 June 1886): 3.14 definitions. Unsigned.
No. 524 (14 Aug. 1886): 6.10 definitions. Unsigned.
“The Cynic’s Dictionary.” All signed by Ambrose Bierce, except as noted. 35 in Am columns; 30 in E.
E, 4 Sept. 1887: 4.14 definitions. As by B.
E, 29 Apr. 1888: 4.15 definitions. As by B.
Am, 26 June 1904: [22]; E, 10 July 1904: [44]. 11 definitions.
Am, 9 July 1904: [14]; E, 17 July 1904: [44]. 18 definitions.
Am, 23 July 1904: [12]; E, 2 Aug. 1904: [16]. 4 definitions.
Am, 3 Aug. 1904: [12]; E, 13 Aug. 1904: [14]. 9 definitions.
Am, 6 Aug. 1904: [12]; E, 19 Aug. 1904: [16]. 8 definitions.
Am, 13 Aug. 1904: [12]; E, 15 Nov. 1904: [16]. 11 definitions.
Am, 26 Aug. 1904: [12]; E, 13 Oct. 1904: [16]. 9 definitions.
Am, 30 Aug. 1904: [12]; no appearance found in E. 17 definitions.
Am, 3 Sept. 1904: [12]; E, 9 Sept. 1904: [14]. 14 definitions.
Am, 13 Sept. 1904: [12]; E, 8 Nov. 1904: [16]. 9 definitions. (No definitions reprinted in D.)
Am, 22 Sept. 1904: [12]; E, 30 Sept. 1904: [16]. 13 definitions.
Am, 23 Sept. 1904: [12]; E, 14 Oct. 1904: [16]. 12 definitions.
Am, 26 Sept. 1904: [12]; E, 6 Oct. 1904: [16]. 6 definitions.
Am, 27 Sept. 1904: [12]; E, 28 Oct. 1904: [16]. 4 definitions.
Am, 5 Oct. 1904: [12]. 3 definitions.
Am, 6 Oct. 1904: [14]. 6 definitions.
E, 31 Oct. 1904: [14] (combines Am of 5 and 6 Oct. 1904)• 9 definitions.
Am, 17 Oct. 1904: [14]; E, 24 Oct. 1904: [16]. 9 definitions.
Am, 5 Nov. 1904: [16]; E, 12 Nov. 1904: [16]. 11 definitions.
Am, 19 Nov. 1904: [14]; E, 28 Nov. 1904: [14]• 6 definitions.
Am, 22 Nov. 1904: [16]; E, 2 Dec. 1904: [16]. 4 definitions.
Am, 1 Dec. 1904: [14]; E, 8 Dec. 1904: [16]. 7 definitions.
Am, 26 Dec. 1904: [12]; E, 3 Jan. 1905: [20]. 13 definitions.
Am, 7 Jan. 1905: [14]; E, 14 Jan. 1905: [16]. 11 definitions.
Am, 11 Jan. 1905: [14]; E, 18 Mar. 1905: [16]. 10 definitions.
Am, 27 Jan. 1905: [16]; E, 11 Feb. 1905: [16]. 6 definitions.
Am, 22 Feb. 1906: [16]; no appearance found in E. 20 definitions.
Unpublished proof, c. Feb.-Mar. 1906. Platter.
Am, 6 Mar. 1906: [16]; E, 12 Mar. 1906: [16]. 12 definitions.
Am, 16 Mar. 1906: [16]; E, 21 Mar. 1906: [20]. 14 definitions.
Am, 6 Apr. 1906: [16]; E, 11 Apr. 1906: [22]. 10 definitions.
“The Cynic’s Word Book.”
Am, 30 May 1906: [16]; E, 20 June 1906: [14]. 15 definitions.
Am, 14 June 1906: [18]; Los Angeles Examiner, 28 July 1906: [20]; no appearance found in E. 10 definitions.
Am, 27 June 1906:18; no appearance found in E. 7 definitions.
Am, 28 June 1906: 18; E, 4 July 1906: 14.10 definitions; Los Angeles Examiner, 17 July 1906: [22]. (Combines Am of 27 and 28 June 1906.) 17 definitions.
Am, 29 June 1906: 18; Los Angeles Examiner, 17 July 1906: [22]; no appearance found in E. 8 definitions.
Am, 11 July 1906: [16]; Los Angeles Examiner, 28 June 1906: [20]; no appearance found in E. 3 definitions.
Two clippings present in typesetting copy, but no appearance found in Am or E: one contains 13 definitions, the other 10 definitions.
The Cynic’s Word Book. 1906.17 previously unpublished definitions.
The Devil’s Dictionary. 1911.197 previously unpublished definitions; another 6 published under new names.
B. APPEARANCES OF VERSE PRIOR TO INCLUSION IN THE DEVIL’S DICTIONARY
All initial appearances of verse are untitled except as noted. Beg. From “Prattle” (E, 11 Apr. 1897: 6).
Christian. From “The Passing Show” (E, 26 Nov. 1899:14;J, 3 Dec. 1899: 26).
Critic. From “Prattle” (E, 29 Jan. 1893: 6).
Cross. From “Prattle” (E, 21 Oct. 1895: 6).
Heathen. From “Prattle” (E, 16 May 1897:18).
Lawyer [verses in C only]. From “Prattle” (E, 6 Nov. 1887: 4).
Outcome. From “Brevigraphs” (W, 10 Mar. 1886: 6), as “A Lacking Factor.”
Out-of-doors. As “Communing with Nature” (W, 25 Nov. 1881:342). As by “B.”
Redemption. From “Prattle” (E, 13 Jan. 1889: 4).
Renown. From “Prattle” (E, 15 Dec. 1889: 6).
Repentance. From [Editorial] (W, 21 Aug. 1886:5). Unsigned.
Reporter. From “The Passing Show” (E, 13 Aug. 1899:12).
Respite. From “Prattle” (W, 17 Oct. 1885: 5).
Responsibility. From [Editorial] (W, 9 Oct. 1886: 5). Unsigned.
Retribution. From “Prattle” (E, 2 Mar. 1890: 6).
Right. From “Prattle” (E, 10 June 1888: 4).
Safety-clutch. From “Prattle” (E, 23 Sept. 1888: 4).
Scarabee. From “Prattle” (W, 26 Dec. 1885:11).
Scrap-book. As “To Fr-nk M. P-xl-y” (W, 1 Aug. 1885: 6).
Seine [Lace]. From “The Devil’s Dictionary” (W, 6 Mar. 1886: 6).
Severalty. From “Prattle” (E, 4 Sept. 1892: 6).
Siren [as in Dx]. From “Prattle” (E, 12 Aug. 1888: 4).
Smithareen. From “Prattle” (J, 5 July 1896 [not seen]; E, 12 July 1896: 6).
Sophistry. From “Prattle” (E, 16 Sept. 1888: 4).
Success. From “The Passing Show” (Am, 21 Feb. 1904: 24; 6 Mar. 1904: 45).
Sycophant. From “Prattle” (W, 6 Jan. 1882: 6).
Symbolic [Compunction]. From “The Devil’s Dictionary” (W, 5 Aug. 1881: 82).
Table d’Hôte. From “Prattle” (W, 16 Apr. 1881: 244).
Tariff. From “Prattle” (E, 8 July 1888: 4).
Tenacity [Grip]. From “The Devil’s Dictionary” (W, 28 Mar. 1885: 5).
Tortoise. As “To My Pet Tortoise” (Am, 15 July 1901: 12; E, 18 July 1901:14).
Urbanity. From “Prattle” (W, 12 Mar. 1881:164).
Vanity [Cackle]. From “The Devil’s Dictionary” (W, 4 June 1881: 355).
Wall Street. From “The Views of One,” (Am, 3 Apr. 1905:16).
Weather. From “Prattle” (E, 10 June 1894: 6).
Whangdepootanowah. From “Prattle” (E, 1 May 1892: 6).
Yesterday. From “Prattle” (W, 9 Dec. 1882: 773).
C. SUPPLEMENTARY DEFINITIONS
AI. From “Prattle” (E, 15 Sept. 1889: 4).
A2. From “Prattle” (E, 15 Mar. 1891: 6).
A3. From “Prattle” (E, 23 Dec. 1888: 4).
A4. From “The Passing Show” (E, 19 Nov. 1899:14).
A5. From “Prattle” (E, 4 Nov. 1888: 4).
A6. From “Prattle” (E, 4 Mar. 1894: 6).
A7. From “A Spread of Quick-Lunch Wisdom for Busy Readers” (Am, 2 Oct. 1903:14; E, 17 Oct. 1903:16).
A8. From “Æsop’s Fables, Applied” (E, 19 Feb. 1891: 6).
A9. From “Prattle” (E, 22 Nov. 1891: 6).
A10. From “The Passing Show” (Am and-E, 13 May 1900: 26).
A11. From “Prattle” (E, 20 Nov. 1892: 6).
A12. From “Prattle” (E, 18 Sept. 1892: 6).
A13. From “Prattle” (E, 24 July 1887: 4).
A14. From “The Views of One” (Am, 21 Dec. 1905:16; E, 1 Jan. 1906:16).
A15. From “Prattle” (E, 25 Nov. 1888: 4).
A16. From “Prattle” (E, 24 July 1887: 4).
A17. From “Prattle” (E, 27 Aug. 1893: 6).
A18. From “Prattle” (E, 11 Mar. 1888: 4).
A19. Source unknown.
A20. From “Prattle” (W, 30 Dec. 1881: 438).
A21. From “Prattle” (W, 16 Aug. 1884:5).
A22. From “Prattle” (E, 22 Jan. 1888: 4).
A23. From “Prattle” (E, 3 Apr. 1887: 4).
A24. From “Prattle” (E, 7 Aug. 1887: 4).
A25. From “The Views of One” (Am, 29 Mar. 1905:16; E, 6 Apr. 1905:16).
A26. From “The Views of One” (Am, 17 Apr. 1905: 16; E, 26 Apr. 1905: 16).
A27. From “A Whopper” (W, 28 Oct. 1881: 278). Unsigned.
A28. From “The Lone Epitapher of Laurel Hill” (W, 22 Sept. 1883: 6). Unsigned.
A29. From “Prattle” (E, 22 May 1887: 4)
A30. From “Prattle” (E, 24 July 1887: 4).
A31. Source unknown.
A32. Source unknown.
A33. From “Three in a Box-A Drametta.” Exists as a clipping with tide in AB’s scrapbooks at the University of Virginia. Identified as being from the New York Morning Telegraph (4 July 1901).
A34. From “The Views of One” (Am, 17 Jan. 1905:16).
A35. From “The Views of One” (Am, 1 July 1905:16; E, 7 July 1905:16).
D. OTHER DEFINITIONS
B1. From “Concerning Tickets” (Californian 7, no. 32 [28 Dec. 1867]: 8). As by A. Gwinnett.
B2. From “The Town Crier” (NL, 26 Dec. 1868: 9). Unsigned.
B3. “Webster Revised” (NL, 30 Jan. 1869: 3). Unsigned.
B4. From “The Town Crier” (NL, 3 July 1869:11). Unsigned.
B5. From “‘News Letter Aphorisms-By Our Special Philosopher” (NL, 24 July 1869: 4).
B6. From “The Town Crier” (NL, 14 Aug. 1869:11). Unsigned.
B7. From “The Town Crier” (NL, 9 Mar. 1872: 9). Unsigned.
B8. From “The Town Crier” (Fi, 15 Feb. 1873:10). Unsigned.
B9. From “Sacred Themes” (ND, 1873: 100).
B10. From “Brief Seasons of Intellectual Dissipation” (Fu, 5 July 1873: 7); rpt. in Cobwebs from an Empty Skull (p. 99).
B11. From “The Prattler” (Ar, 1 Apr. 1877: 5).
B12. From “The Prattler” (Ar, 2 June 1877: 5).
B13. From “Prattle” (Ar, 17 Nov. 1877:1). Unsigned.
B14. From “Prattle” (Ar, 14 Sept. 1878: 9). As by B.
B15. From “Prattle” (W, 4 Nov. 1881: 293). As by B.
B16. From “Prattle” (W, 27 Jan. 1883:5).
B17. From “Prattle” (W, 20 Feb. 1886: 5). Unsigned.
B18. From [Editorial] (W, 18 Sept. 1886: 5). Unsigned.
B19. From “Prattle” (E, 29 July 1888: 4).
B20. From “Prattle” (E, 14 Apr. 1889: 4).
B21. From “Prattle” (E, 22 Sept. 1889: 4).
B22. From “Prattle” (E, 1 Dec. 1889: 6).
B23. From “Prattle” (E, 9 Feb. 1890: 6).
B24. From “Prattle” (E, 6 Apr. 1890:18).
B25. From “Prattle” (E, 31 Aug. 1890: 6).
B26. From “Fables and Anecdotes” (E, 24 Oct. 1891: 6).
B27. From “Prattle” (E, 18 Feb. 1894: 6).
B28. From “Prattle” (E, 20 Jan. 1895: 6).
B29. From “Prattle” (E, 28 July 1895: 6).
B30. From “Prattle” (E, 2 May 1897: 18; J, 16 May 1897:50 [as “Ambrose Bierce’s Peculiar View of the Turk”]).
B31. From “The Views of One” (Am, 7 Apr. 1905:16; E, 13 Apr. 1905:16).
B32. “The Future Historian: The Dispersal” (Co, Mar. 1909: 472; rpt. as “The Reversion to Barbarism” [CW 12.344]).
B33. n.d. Reported in Carey McWilliams, Ambrose Bierce: A Biography (New York: Albert and Charles Boni, 1929), 257.
E. VERSES REPRINTED IN BLACK BEETLES IN AMBER (CW 4 [1911])
Epigram. From “The Devil’s Dictionary” (W, 17 May 1884: 6); as “An Epigrammatist” (CW 5.203).
Grass. From “The Devil’s Dictionary” (W, 14 Mar. 1885: 3); as “Famine in Prosperity” (CW 5.202).
Fig-Leaf. From “The Devil’s Dictionary” (W, 20 Sept. 1884: 6); as “Fig Leaf” (CW5.203).
Concatenate. From “The Devil’s Dictionary” (W, 5 Aug. 1881: 82); as “A Mine for Reformers” (CW 5.207).
PRIMARY BIBLIOGRAPHY
Black Beaks in Amber. San Francisco and New York: Western Authors Publishing Co., 1892; rpt. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Literature House, 1970.
“[Clippings] From which to select and prepare additions to The Devil’s Dictionary if needed.” Ms. Bancroft Library, Berkeley, CA. Fifty items. Sources listed under “Supplementary Definitions.”
Cobwebs from an Empty Skull (as by “Dod Grile”). London and New York: George Routledge and Sons, 1874.
The Collected Works of Ambrose Bierce. New York and Washington, D.C. : Neale Publishing Co. (dates as indicated); New York: Gordian Press, 1966: 1. Ashes of the Beacon; The Land Beyond the Blow; For the Ahkoond; John Smith, Liberator; and Bits of Autobiography (1909); II. In the Midst of Life (Tales of Soldiers and Civilians) (1909); III. Can Such Things Be? (1910); IV. Shapes of Clay (1910); V. Black Beetles in Amber (1911); VI. The Monk and the Hangman’s Daughter; and Fantastic Fables (1911); VII. The Devil’s Dictionary (1911); VIII. Negligible Tales; On with the Dance; and Epigrams (1911); IX. Tangential Views (1911); X. The Opinionator (1911); XI. Antepenultimata (1912); XII. In Motley: Kings of Beasts; Two Administrations; and Miscellaneous (1912).
The Cynic’s Word Book. New York: Doubleday, Page and Co.; London: Arthur F. Bird, 1906.
The Devil’s Dictionary. Typesetting copy (MS., Huntington Library and Art Gallery, San Marino, CA).
The Fiend’s Delight (as by “Dod Grile”). London: John Camden Hotten, [July 1873]; New York: A. L. Luyster, 1873.
Nuggets and Dust Panned Out in California (as by “Dod Grile”; “Collected and Loosely Arranged by J. Milton Sloluck”). London: Chatto and Windus, [1873].
Shapes of Clay. San Francisco: W. E. Wood, 1903.
A Sole Survivor: Bits of Autobiography. Ed. S. T. Joshi and David E. Schultz. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1998.
Write It Bight: A Little Blacklist of Literary Faults. New York and Washington, D.C.: Neale Publishing Co., [Oct.] 1909.
SECONDARY BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bierce, Ambrose. The Enlarged Devil’s Dictionary. Ed. Ernest J. Hopkins. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1967.
Davidson, Cathy N., ed. Critical Essays on Ambrose Bierce. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1982.
Fatout, Paul. Ambrose Bierce: The Devil’s Lexicographer. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1951.
Grenander, M. E. Ambrose Bierce. New York: Twayne, 1971.
Highsmith, James M. “The Forms of Burlesque in The Devil’s Dictionary.” Satire Newsletter 7 (1970): 115-27.
Joshi, S. T., and David E. Schultz. Ambrose Bierce: An Annotated Bibiliography of Primary Sources. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1999.
McWilliams, Carey. Ambrose Bierce: A Biography. New York: A. and C. Boni, 1929.
–––. “Introduction.” The Devil’s Dictionary. New York: Sagamore Press, 1957.
Morris, Roy, Jr. Ambrose Bierce: Alone in Bad Company. New York: Crown, 1995.
[Neale, Walter.] [Prospectus to] The Collected Works of Ambrose Bierce: Ten Octavo Volumes. New York and Washington, D.C.: Neale Publishing Co., [1908].
O’Connor, Richard. Ambrose Bierce: A Biography. Boston: Little, Brown, 1967.
[Unsigned.] “A Cynic’s Word Book: Some New Definitions.” T. P.’s Weekly (12 July 1907): 51.
[Unsigned.] [Review of The Collected Works, Vols. VII-X.]Athenqum (16 Sept. 1911): 322-23.
Scheffauer, Herman. “The Death of Satire.” Fortnightly Review 99, no. 6 (whole number 558) (June1913): 1188-99.
Smith, H. Greenbough. “Bierce’s Devil Dictionary.” Biblio 4 (July 1924): 678-80.