What I Saw of Shiloh: The Wasp (San Francisco), December 23 and 30, 1881.
A Little of Chickamauga: San Francisco Examiner, April 24, 1898.
The Crime at Pickett’s Mill: San Francisco Examiner, May 27, 1888.
Four Days in Dixie: San Francisco Examiner, November 4, 1888.
What Occurred at Franklin: Cosmopolitan, December 1906.
Working for an Empress: The Wasp (San Francisco), December 23, 1882.
Across the Plains: Oakland Daily Evening Tribune, October 18, 1890.
The Mirage: San Francisco Examiner, August 14, 1887.
A Sole Survivor: Oakland Daily Evening Tribune, October 18, 1890.
The text of Bits of Autobiography in the present volume has been taken from Collected Works, vol. I (1909).
Selected Stories. The eight “Selected Stories” with which this volume concludes are presented in chronological order of first complete publication. The texts of two, marked with an asterisk (*) in the list below, have been taken from Bierce’s Collected Works, vol. I ([February] 1909), where they were published as independent items; the texts of five, marked with a dagger (†), follow Collected Works, vol. 8 ([July] 1911), where they were published, along with other stories, in the group “Negligible Tales.” One story, “Mrs. Dennison’s Head,” does not appear in Bierce’s Collected Works; the text presented here has been taken from the first book version in the absence of evidence of Bierce’s involvement in its subsequent publication history. Bierce revised all of these stories apart from “Mrs. Dennison’s Head,” sometimes extensively, when he included them in his Collected Works. The following list gives details of their original appearances:
Mrs. Dennison’s Head: Fun (London), July 12, 1873; Cobwebs from an Empty Skull (London and New York: George Routledge & Sons, 1874, [1878]); Cobwebs: Being the Fables of Zambri the Parsee (London: Fun Office, [1884]).
†The Man Overboard: Tom Hood’s Comic Annual for 1876 (London: Fun Office, [1876?]) (as “Some Unusual Adventures”).
†Jupiter Doke, Brigadier-General: The Wasp (San Francisco), December 26, 1885 (as “Materials for History”); Can Such Things Be? (1893/1903).
†A Bottomless Grave: San Francisco Examiner, February 26, 1888.
*For the Ahkoond: San Francisco Examiner, March 18, 1888.
†My Favorite Murder: San Francisco Examiner, September 16, 1888 (drawing on the plot first presented in “Jo Dornan and the Ram,” Fun [London], November 15, 1873); Can Such Things Be? (1893/1903).
†Oil of Dog: Oakland Daily Evening Tribune, October 11, 1890.
*Ashes of the Beacon: Collected Works, vol. I (1909). The 1909 version is essentially a new work, gathering and substantially revising previously published partial versions: “The Fall of the Republic: An Article from a ‘Court Journal’ of the Thirty-first Century,” San Francisco Examiner, March 25, 1888; “The Ashes of the Beacon: Written in 3940: An Historical Monograph,” New York American, February 19, 1905, and San Francisco Examiner, February 26, 1905; “The Jury in Ancient America: An Historical Sketch Written in the Year of Grace 3687, translated by Ambrose Bierce,” Cosmopolitan, August 1905; “Insurance in Ancient America: Translated from the Work of the Future Historian,” Cosmopolitan, September 1906.
This volume presents the texts of the editions chosen for inclusion here but does not attempt to reproduce every feature of their typographic design. The texts are reprinted without change, except for the correction of typographical errors. Spelling, punctuation, and capitalization are often expressive features, and they are not altered, even when inconsistent or irregular. The following is a list of typographical errors corrected, cited by page and line number: 467.24, glackguard; 494.31, “What!’; 496.24, Israelities; 506.5, HABEAS CORPUS. A; 506.18, “Αιδης”; 513.31, homocide; 541.19, your have; 543.23, Potter; 622.39, pâtès; 636.33, celebre; 676.20, apres; 715.2, cooperation; 761.32, abroad; 778.14, wordly; 784.8, betwen; 793.4, gentleman; 800.29 nightclothes.
Notes
In the notes below, the reference numbers denote page and line of the present volume; the line count includes titles and headings but not blank lines. No note is made for material found in standard desk-reference works. Biblical references are keyed to the King James Version. Quotations from Shakespeare are keyed to The Riverside Shakespeare, ed. G. Blakemore Evans (Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, 1974). For additional information and references to other studies, see Ambrose Bierce, A Sole Survivor: Bits of Autobiography, ed. S. T. Joshi and David E. Schultz (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1998), Ambrose Bierce, The Unabridged Devil’s Dictionary, ed. David E. Schultz and S. T. Joshi (Athens & London: University of Georgia Press, 2000), S. T. Joshi and David E. Schultz, Ambrose Bierce: An Annotated Bibliography of Primary Sources (Westport, CT & London: Greenwood Press, 1999), and Roy Morris, Jr., Ambrose Bierce: Alone in Bad Company (New York: Crown Publishers, 1996).
IN THE MIDST OF LIFE: TALES OF SOLDIERS AND CIVILIANS
1.1–2 In the Midst . . . Soldiers and Civilians)] When he published In the Midst of Life (Tales of Soldiers and Civilians) in his Collected Works in 1909, Bierce restored the “Preface to the First Edition,” dated San Francisco, September 4, 1891: “Denied existence by the chief publishing houses of the country, this book owes itself to Mr. E.L.G. Steele, merchant, of this city. In attesting Mr. Steele’s faith in his judgment and his friend, it will serve its authors main and best ambition.” No evidence is known to be extant about Bierce’s attempts to publish his book before the 1891 first edition. A new edition in 1898 bore a revised preface, subsequently omitted: “In reissuing this book, with considerable alterations and additions, it has been thought expedient, for uniformity, to give it the title under which it was published in London and Leipzig. The merely descriptive name of the original American edition (published by the late E.L.G. Steele) is retained as a sub-title in order to prevent misunderstandings by purchasers—if the book be so fortunate as to have any.” Steele (d. 1894), a wealthy businessman, was the head of C. Adolphe Low & Co., importers.
4.29 Grafton] A town (now in West Virginia) that was occupied by Union troops on May 30, 1861; Bierce participated in the operation.
7.20 “Peace, be still.”] Mark 4:31.
10.3 A man] In the first appearance of the story (San Francisco Examiner, July 13, 1890), the sentence began: “One morning in the summer of 1862 a man . . .”
11.34 “unsteadfast footing,”] Shakespeare, 1 Henry IV, I.iii.193.
12.35 Corinth] A town in northern Mississippi occupied by Union troops on May 30, 1862. See “What I Saw of Shiloh” in this volume.
21.4–5 curb . . . star] Byron, Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage (1812), canto 3, stanza 38; the reference is to Napoleon.
24.20–21 “the thunder . . . shouting.”] Job 39:25.
34.3–4 Kennesaw Mountain, Georgia] Bierce was seriously wounded at Kennesaw Mountain on June 23, 1864, and a major battle was fought there on June 27.
40.5 Missionary Ridge] A ridge overlooking Chattanooga, Tennessee, and the site of a Union victory on November 24–25, 1863.
40.33 “green and salad days”] A paraphrase of Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra, I.v.73–74.
46.1 Resaca] A town in Georgia and the site of a battle on May 14–15, 1864.
46.15–16 “the speaking trump of fame”] Byron, English Bards and Scotch Reviewers (1809), l. 400.
46.28 Stone’s River] Stones River, the site in central Tennessee of one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War, December 31, 1862–January 2, 1863.
47.24 “not a happy one,”] See W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan, The Pirates of Penzance (1879): “A policeman’s lot is not a happy one.”
61.28 “bivouac of the dead,”] The title of a poem (1847) by Theodore O’Hara (1820–1867), commemorating the Americans slain in the battle of Buena Vista, February 22–23, 1847; the phrase also occurs in line 4. Bierce used it as the title of a memoir of his Civil War experiences (New York American, November 22, 1903).
64.9 a herd of s
wine] See “On a Mountain” in this volume.
75.19 ‘the unwritten law’] The supposed right of an individual to avenge moral offenses committed against members of his family; here, the right of a husband to kill his wife’s lover.
76.6–7 battle at Pittsburg Landing] Also known as the battle of Shiloh, April 6–7, 1862. See “What I Saw of Shiloh” in this volume.
76.17–18 “excursions and alarums,”] The sounds of war and battle, used as a stage direction in Elizabethan plays for moving soldiers across the stage.
77.3–4 unstrained quality . . . heaven] See Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, IV.i.184–86: “The quality of mercy is not strained; / It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven / Upon the place beneath.”
107.16–17 topographical engineer] Bierce began serving as a topographical engineer in May 1863.
118.5 North Beach] The waterfront region in the northernmost part of San Francisco, home at this time to much of the city’s immigrant population.
118.11 “from the foundation of the city.”] An English rendering of the Latin phrase ab urbe condita, the title of Livy’s history of Rome.
124.9 that other law] Exodus 20:14: “Thou shalt not commit adultery.”
124.31 Stockton asylum for the insane] The Insane Asylum of California (now Stockton State Hospital) was established in 1853.
124.36 Mission Dolores] Properly, the Mission San Francisco de Asís, founded in 1776 by Father Junipero Serra.
125.1–2 Goat Hill] Apparently a reference to Billy Goat Hill, in the Noe Valley district south of Market Street.
126.36 Ina Lillian Peterson] Niece of the poet Ina Donna Coolbrith and one of Bierce’s friends and correspondents.
128.22–23 “in her habit as she lived.”] See Shakespeare, Hamlet, III. iv.135: “in his habit as he lived.”
128.25–26 mute inglorious hero] See Gray’s Elegy (1751), l. 59: “mute inglorious Milton.”
136.21 short and simple annals] See Gray’s Elegy, l. 32: “the short and simple annals of the poor.”
137.17 copper the queen] “To copper” is a term in faro, in which a player bets that a given card will lose.
146.4 toil not, neither spin] See Matthew 6:28.
146.33 goodness and joy] Bierce wrote in a letter to C. W. Doyle on December 26, 1897: “How I hate Christmas! I’m one of the curmudgeons that the truly good Mr. Dickens found it profitable to hold up to the scorn of those who take such satisfaction in being decent and generous one day in 365.”
147.30–31 “read his title clear”] “When I Can Read My Title Clear” is the title of a hymn (1707) by Isaac Watts (1674–1748).
151.29 ‘confederate season’] Shakespeare, Hamlet, III.ii.256.
152.9–10 not of woman . . . Caesarean section.] See Shakespeare, Macbeth, V.viii.13–17
159.37 Bloomingdale Asylum] The New York Lunatic Asylum, established in 1808 at Morningside Heights on the Upper West Side of Manhattan; renamed the Bloomingdale Insane Asylum in 1821; moved in 1894 to the Westchester division of the New York Hospital in White Plains.
160.9 Morryster’s Marvells of Science] A fictitious author and work. Cf. “Prattle” (San Francisco Examiner, July 6, 1890): “Morryster’s Marvells of Science can certainly not be obtained in the ‘book market.’”
161.34 “dragons of the prime”] Alfred Tennyson, In Memoriam, LVI, 22–23.
162.38 “matter out of place”] “Dirt is only matter out of place; and what is a blot on the escutcheon of the Common Law may be a jewel in the crown of the Social Republic.”—John Chipman Gray (1839–1915), Restraints on the Alienation of Property (Boston: Soule & Bugbee, 1883).
164.17 Memnon’s statue] An immense statue of Memnon near Thebes, in Egypt, when broken, emitted sounds upon the rising of the sun.
169.23 sere and yellow leaf] Shakespeare, Macbeth, V.iii.22–23: “my way of life / Is fall’n into the sere, the yellow leaf.”
173.22 Messalina] Empress Messalina Valeria (d. 48 C.E.), wife of the Roman emperor Claudius (r. 41–54 C.E.), who gained notoriety for her promiscuity.
183.14–15 phonograph] Thomas Edison invented the phonograph in 1877, but phonograph records were not sold until 1892.
194.2 CORONADO] An island near San Diego and the site of a resort hotel for the wealthy.
194.35 Blavatsky people in Northern India] Helena Petrovska Blavatsky (1831–1891), Russian mystic and founder of theosophy, lived near Madras (in southeastern, not northern, India) from 1878 to 1885.
195.13 Sepoy] The Sepoy Mutiny in 1857–58 was a large uprising of Indian soldiers (sepoys) serving in the British army.
195.20 Thugs] Members of the Thuggee cult, a group of Indian criminal gangs. They were suppressed by the British, who executed the last Thug in 1882.
196.19 Garrick] David Garrick (1717–1779), British actor and playwright.
CAN SUCH THINGS BE?
213.13 Hali] A fictitious prophet first mentioned in “An Inhabitant of Carcosa” (p. 370).
213.19 St. Helena] A town in Napa county. Bierce lived there and in nearby Angwin in the 1880s, as his worsening asthma compelled him to give up residence in San Francisco.
214.20–21 his sleep was no longer dreamless] The following dream is based on one that Bierce recorded in his essay “Visions of the Night,” San Francisco Examiner, July 24, 1887.
217.14–15 thunder . . . shouting] See note 24.20–21.
217.39–218.1 gift and faculty divine] See William Wordsworth, The Excursion (1814), 1.79: “the vision and the faculty divine.”
221.33 Calistoga] A town nine miles northwest of Saint Helena.
222.8 Napa] A town about twenty miles southeast of Saint Helena; the seat of Napa county.
222.18 heeled] Armed.
226.20–227.3 “Enthralled . . . viewless—”] The poem is adapted from one published in “Prattle,” San Francisco Examiner, June 12, 1887. The final stanza reads: “At last, praise God! I broke the viewless chain, / And, flying breathless to the sunny plain, / Met Dr. Josselyn. He smiled. I sought / The lesser horror of the wood again.” Dr. Charles Josselyn, the fire commissioner in San Francisco, was evidently indicted on a charge of conspiracy to murder.
229.2 Indian Hill] There were two mining towns in California named Indian Hill, one in El Dorado County north of Placerville, and another in Sierra County, five miles southwest of Goodyears Bar; given Bierce’s subsequent mention of the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, he is probably referring to the latter town.
231.20–21 a more . . . of man—] Byron, Manfred (1817), 3.4.4–5.
240.24 Unacquainted with grief] See Isaiah 53:3: “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.”
242.25 Remote . . . slow] Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774), The Traveller (1764), l. 1.
244.26–27 “the captain of my soul.”] William Ernest Henley, “Invictus” (1875), l. 16.
244.36 THE MEDIUM BAYROLLES] First cited in “An Inhabitant of Carcosa” (p. 370).
251.7 Chopin’s funeral march] Originally a composition for solo piano and later incorporated into Chopin’s Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-flat minor, Opus 35 (1839).
255.16–18 “Life . . . sequences.”] From The Principles of Biology (1864– 67), part I, chaps. 4–5, by British philosopher Herbert Spencer (1820–1903).
255.21 Mill] Bierce alludes to British philosopher John Stuart Mill (1806–1873), A System of Logic, Ratiocinative and Inductive (1843).
257.11–12 Saul of Tarsus] St. Paul was known as Saul prior to his conversion. See Acts 9:3–4.
257.13–14 “The endless . . . thought.”] From The History of Philosophy from Thales to Comte (London: Longmans, Green, 1867), 1:51, by British historian and critic George Henry Lewes (1817–1878).
263.12 Philippi, Rich Mountain, Carrick’s Ford and Greenbrier] Battles occurring on June 3, July 11, July 13, and October 3, 1861, all in western Virginia. Bierce participated in all four engagements.
264.36 without form and void] See Genesis 1:2: “And the e
arth was without form, and void.”
282.7 Celestials] A derisive term for the Chinese, taken from the common nickname of China, the Celestial Empire.
283.11–12 laid down . . . serpent] An allusion to chapter 7 of Exodus.
296.30 Denneker’s “Meditations.”] A fictitious author and work first cited in “A Psychological Shipwreck” (p. 326).
299.7 Gaines’s Mill] One of the Seven Days Battles, fought near Richmond, Virginia, on June 27, 1862.
299.11 bombardment of Port Royal] On November 7, 1861, the Union navy gained control of Port Royal sound in South Carolina by bombarding the two Confederate forts that guarded the harbor.
299.13–16 A few days . . . his own line] General Philip Henry Sheridan (1831–1888) and General George Edward Pickett (1825–1875), who fought in the battle of Sayler’s Creek, Virginia, April 6, 1865. The battle was a devastating defeat for the Confederates and helped force the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865.
300.28–29 Stone’s River battlefield] See note 46.28.
301.3 General Hazen] General William Babcock Hazen (1830–1887); Bierce joined his brigade staff as a topographical engineer in 1863.
302.7–8 loquacious barber of the Arabian Nights] In the Arabian Nights (nights 29–30), a tailor tells the story of a barber who relentlessly pesters him with questions when all he wants is a haircut.
302.35 a square, solid monument] See note 46.28; General Hazen had caused this memorial to be erected at his own expense while the war was still in progress.
303.3 “one with Nineveh and Tyre.”] Rudyard Kipling, “Recessional: June 22, 1897,” l. 16.
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