1865
Resigns from the army for medical reasons on January 10. Becomes Treasury Department agent charged with the collection of “captured and abandoned property,” chiefly bales of cotton. Works in Selma, Alabama, under Captain Sherburne B. Eaton, a former member of Hazen’s staff. Visits Panama in September.
1866
Resigns from Treasury Department and joins Hazen on inspection tour of western army forts; serves as map maker in the expectation of receiving a captain’s commission in the postwar army. Inspection party leaves Omaha, Nebraska in July and travels up the Platte River and along the Bozeman Trail into Wyoming and Montana, then goes to San Francisco by way of Salt Lake City. Bierce receives commission as a second lieutenant, which he rejects.
1867
Settles in San Francisco, where he secures a job as night watchman at the U.S. Mint. Meets Bret Harte, who also works at the mint. Bierce’s first published work, the poem “Basilica,” appears in September in The Californian, followed by other poetry and prose, including his first signed essay, “Female Suffrage” (December), in which he advocates woman suffrage (a position he will reverse in later years).
1868
Writes for Golden Era and San Francisco News Letter. Publishes “Letters from a Hdkhoite” (April), a satirical fantasy set in an imaginary world. In December he becomes editor of the News Letter and columnist, writing 173 “Town Crier” pieces over the next three and a half years.
1869
In January publishes brief article, “Webster Revised,” that represents his first attempt at satirical definitions in the manner of his later Devil’s Dictionary. Literary acquaintances include Ina Coolbrith, Charles Warren Stoddard, and Joaquin Miller.
1871
Bierce contributes series of humorous sketches, “Grizzly Papers” (January–June), a story “The Haunted Valley” (July), and other pieces to Overland Monthly, edited by Bret Harte. George T. Russell, a journalist and printer, unsuccessfully sues for libel after Bierce describes him in print as a “vacant-headed simpleton” and “peripatetic liar.” Bierce marries Mary Ellen (“Mollie”) Day, daughter of a prosperous mining engineer, on December 25.
1872
Resigns from News Letter in March; his farewell statement to readers concludes: “Cultivate a taste for distasteful truths. And, finally, most important of all, endeavor to see things as they are, not as they ought to be.” Sails to England with Mollie and settles in London. Writes humorous stories for Tom Hood’s Fun, columns (“The Town Crier,” “The Passing Show”) for Figaro, and letters on England for Alta California. Forms friendships with English literary figures, including George Augustus Sala, Henry Sampson, and Captain Mayne Reid. (Will later write: “I have not elsewhere heard such brilliant talk as among the artists and writers of London. I found these men agreeable, hospitable, intelligent, amusing.”) Troubled by aggravation of his chronic asthma, moves with wife to Bristol in September. Son Day is born in December.
1873
The Fiend’s Delight (John Camden Hotten) and, later in the year, Nuggets and Dust (Chatto & Windus) are published under the pseudonym “Dod Grile”; both consist largely of sketches and squibs reprinted from the News Letter. Visits Paris with wife and mother-in-law during the summer. Moves to Bath in November.
1874
Cobwebs from an Empty Skull published by Routledge under the name “Dod Grile”; it contains “The Fables of Zambri, the Parsee” along with other satirical stories and sketches from Fun. Son Leigh born April 29. Writes both issues of The Lantern, where he uses the title “Prattle” for a satirical column for the first time. Publishes “The Night-Doings at ‘Deadman’s’” (March) and first version of the essay “What I Saw of Shiloh” (April & May) in the London Sketch-Book. Moves in April to Leamington Spa. Has occasional meetings with Mark Twain. Tom Hood, Bierce’s closest English friend, dies in November.
1875
Mollie, Day, and Leigh return to San Francisco in April; Bierce joins them in September. Resumes work at U.S. Mint. Daughter Helen born October 30. Moves family from San Francisco to San Rafael.
1876
Father dies in February. Publishes first version of “The Man Overboard” (as “Some Unusual Adventures”) in Tom Hood’s Comic Annual for 1876. Serves as secretary of the Bohemian Club, 1876–77.
1877
Becomes associate editor of the Argonaut, founded by Frank Pixley. (In his first issue writes: “It is my intention to purify journalism in this town by instructing such writers as it is worthwhile to instruct, and assassinating those that it is not.”) Writes ninety-two “Prattle” columns over the next two years. Begins association with writers W. C. Morrow, Emma Frances Dawson, and Richard Realf. Writes satire The Dance of Death, a purported condemnation of the lasciviousness of ballroom dancing, with Thomas A. Harcourt, published under the pseudonym “William Herman.” (A response, The Dance of Life, issued shortly thereafter, is probably not by Bierce.) Publishes revised version of “The Night Doing’s at ‘Deadman’s’” in the Argonaut (December).
1878
Mother dies in May. Bierce is attacked at the offices of the Argonaut by a reader to whose wife he had alluded in print; Bierce fends off attack with a loaded revolver, which he thereafter carries around with him. “The Famous Gilson Bequest” published in the Argonaut (October).
1879
“A Psychological Shipwreck” published in the Argonaut (May 24) as “My Shipwreck.” Resigns from the Argonaut in June.
1880
In July becomes general agent for the Black Hills Placer Mining Company in Rockerville, Dakota Territory, whose owners include Sherburne B. Eaton. Mining operation fails and he resigns in October; spends several months in New York. Writes occasional articles for the Californian (including “On with the Dance!,” a satirical discussion of dancing) and the San Francisco Call.
1881–85
Returns to San Francisco in January, and in March 1881 joins staff of The Wasp as columnist and associate editor; he will write 235 “Prattle” columns for the paper over the next five years. Begins publishing The Devil’s Dictionary serially on March 5, along with fables, poems, editorials, stories, and miscellany, including “What I Saw of Shiloh” (Wasp, December 23–30, 1881); “A Holy Terror” (Wasp, December 23, 1882); “George Thurston” (Wasp, September 29, 1883), his first Civil War story; “A Cargo of Cat” (Wasp, January 3, 1885). Writes vigorous attacks on railroad barons, especially Collis P. Huntington, Leland Stanford, and Charles Crocker. Lives largely apart from his wife and children.
1886
Publishes in The Wasp the stories “An Imperfect Conflagration” (March 27), “A Revolt of the Gods” (as “The Ancient City of Grimalquin,” April 24), “‘The Bubble Reputation’” (May 8). Resigns from The Wasp in May but continues writing occasional unsigned articles and editorials. “An Inhabitant of Carcosa” appears in San Francisco News Letter (December 25).
1887
Joins staff of William Randolph Hearst’s San Francisco Examiner as chief editorial writer in February; on March 27 publishes first of 469 “Prattle” columns (will continue column to 1899). Writes many short stories for the paper including “Killed at Resaca” (June 5) and “The Man out of the Nose” (July 10); “Visions of the Night,” an account of Bierce’s weird dreams, appears July 24.
1888
Publishes stories in the Examiner including “A Bottomless Grave” (February 26), “One of the Missing” (March 11), “For the Ahkoond” (March 18), “The Fall of the Republic” (March 25, an early version of “Ashes of the Beacon”), “The Kingdom of Tortirra” (April 22, later incorporated into “The Land Beyond the Blow”), “A Son of the Gods” (July 2”), “My Favorite Murder” (September 16), “A Tough Tussle” (September 30), “One of Twins” (October 28), along with “The Crime at Pickett’s Mill” (May 27) and “Four Days in Dixie” (November 4), accounts of his Civil War experiences. Quarrels with son Day over his desire to be a journalist; Day leaves home to work on the Red Blu
ff (California) Sentinel.
1889
Bierce separates from Mollie during the winter after discovering what he believes to be love letters to her from another man, a “Danish gentleman.” Remarks to a friend: “I don’t take part in competitions—not even in love.” Publishes stories in the Examiner including “Chickamauga” (January 20), “One Officer, One Man” (February 17), “A Horseman in the Sky” (April 14), “The Coup de Grâce” (June 30), “The Suitable Surroundings” (July 14), “The Affair at Coulter’s Notch” (October 20), and “A Watcher by the Dead” (December 29). Day Bierce becomes engaged to Eva Atkins, a young cannery worker living in Chico, but she elopes with his best friend Neil Hubbs. When they return, Day shoots both of them, fatally wounding Neil Hubbs, then commits suicide, dying on July 27. Bierce sees Mollie for the last time at Day’s funeral.
1890
Publishes stories in the Examiner—“The Story of a Conscience” (June 1), “The Man and the Snake” (June 29), “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” (July 13), “The Realm of the Unreal” (July 20), “The Middle Toe of the Right Foot” (August 17)—and in the Oakland Tribune, “Oil of Dog” (October 11), along with the autobiographical reminiscences “A Sole Survivor” (October 18) and “Across the Plains” (November 8).
1891
Visited in January by the young California writer Gertrude Atherton. Publishes stories in the Examiner—“Parker Adderson, Philosopher” (February 22), “A Lady from Redhorse” (March 15), “The Boarded Window” (April 12), “The Secret of Macarger’s Gulch” (April 25), “The Mocking-Bird” (May 31), “The Thing at Nolan” (August 2)—and The Wave: “The Widower Turmore” (January 10), “Haïta the Shepherd” (January 24), “A Baby Tramp” (August 29), and “The Death of Halpin Frayser” (December 19). The Monk and the Hangman’s Daughter, Bierce’s rewriting of a translation by Gustav Adolph Danziger of “Der Mönch von Berchtesgaden” by Richard Voss, is serialized in the Examiner (September 1–27); Bierce and Danziger will subsequently quarrel over literary rights to the book.
1892
Tales of Soldiers and Civilians published by E.L.G. Steele (dated 1891). Publishes “An Adventure at Brownville” (Examiner, April 3) and “The Applicant” (The Wave, December 25). Book publication of The Monk and the Hangman’s Daughter (F. J. Schulte) and Black Beetles in Amber (Western Authors Publishing Co.), a collection of satirical verse; Chatto & Windus publishes Tales of Soldiers and Civilians in England under the title In the Midst of Life.
1893
Publishes stories “One Kind of Officer” (January 1), “John Bartine’s Watch” (January 22), “The Hypnotist” (September 10), “A Jug of Sirup” (December 17) in the Examiner, as well as “The Damned Thing” (Town Topics, December 7). Story collection Can Such Things Be? is published by Cassell. Becomes acquainted with poet Herman Scheffauer and critic Percival Pollard.
1895
Becomes briefly acquainted with Lily Walsh, a young deaf woman whose poetry he admires; she dies later that year. Begins association with Rachel (“Ray”) Frank, who will become a leading lecturer and writer on Judaism and Jewish history. Begins correspondence with poet Edwin Markham. Feuds bitterly with fellow journalist Arthur McEwen.
1896
Travels to Washington, D.C., at Hearst’s request, to lobby against funding bill postponing the repayment of debts owed by Southern Pacific Railroad magnate Collis P. Huntington. Between February and May Bierce writes more than sixty articles attacking Huntington for the Examiner and for the New York Journal, another Hearst newspaper. Funding bill is defeated in June. Bierce, exhausted and suffering from a severe recurrence of asthma, rests in New Jersey and elsewhere in the summer and early fall. Returns to San Francisco in November. Begins association with the poet George Sterling.
1897
Publishes stories “The Eyes of the Panther” (October 17) and “An Affair of Outposts” (December 19) in the Examiner.
1898
Writes commentary on the Spanish-American War in the Examiner, as well as satirical stories inspired by the conflict, “Marooned on Ug” (February 10) and “The War with Wug” (September 11), both later incorporated into “The Land Beyond the Blow.” Publishes “A Little of Chickamauga,” an account of the Civil War battle, in the Examiner (April 24). Augmented edition of Tales of Soldiers and Civilians, now definitively retitled In the Midst of Life, published by Putnam.
1899
Writes several columns (January–February) condemning Edwin Markham’s poem “The Man with the Hoe” as political propaganda. Last “Prattle” column in the Examiner appears March 19; begins new column, “The Passing Show” on August 6; it will run until 1904. Publishes “Moxon’s Master” (Examiner, April 16). Book publication of Fantastic Fables (Putnam). Leaves for Washington in December, to write simultaneously for the New York Journal (later American) and San Francisco Examiner. He is accompanied by Carrie J. Christiansen, a schoolteacher who becomes his secretary.
1901
Leigh Bierce dies in New York on March 31 of pneumonia after years of heavy drinking; Bierce is present at his deathbed. Publishes “At Old Man Eckert’s” (Examiner, November 17) and “A Diagnosis of Death” (New York Journal, December 8). Becomes acquainted with publisher Walter Neale.
1903
Shapes of Clay, a poetry collection funded by George Sterling, published by W. E. Wood. Can Such Things Be? reprinted by Neale Publishing Co.
1904
Writes many columns of “The Cynic’s Dictionary” for New York American (later incorporated into The Devil’s Dictionary). Mollie Bierce files for divorce in December.
1905
“Ashes of the Beacon” published in New York American (February 19) and San Francisco Examiner (February 26). Mollie dies in April before divorce proceedings are finalized. In May Bierce begins writing for new Hearst magazine Cosmopolitan.
1906
Cosmopolitan publishes stories “One Summer Night” and “Staley Fleming’s Hallucination” (March). The Devil’s Dictionary published in book form as The Cynic’s Word Book (Doubleday, Page). Makes final contribution to the Hearst newspapers, an installment of “The Cynic’s Word Book,” on July 11.
1907
Publishes “The Moonlit Road” (January) and “Beyond the Wall” (December) in Cosmopolitan. The Monk and the Hangman’s Daughter reprinted by Neale Publishing Co.; a limited edition of A Son of the Gods and A Horseman in the Sky published by Paul Elder. Bierce arranges publication of George Sterling’s poem “A Wine of Wizardry” in Cosmopolitan (September) and praises it in an accompanying essay. Responds to critics of the poem and of his essay in “An Insurrection of the Peasantry” (Cosmopolitan, December). Visits his friend S. O. Howes in Galveston, Texas during the winter.
1908
In April, Walter Neale broaches plan to publish Bierce’s Collected Works in ten volumes (later extended to twelve). Bierce begins the work of compilation. “A Resumed Identity” published in Cosmopolitan (September).
1909
“The Stranger” published in Cosmopolitan (February). Bierce resigns from the magazine in May, ending his association with Hearst. Writes a few articles for the Washington Herald. Collected Works begins to appear; first volume (February) includes “Ashes of the Beacon,” “The Land Beyond the Blow,” and other political satires, as well as “Bits of Autobiography.” Second volume (October) contains revised version of In the Midst of Life. The Shadow on the Dial, essay collection assembled by S. O. Howes, published in July by A. M. Robertson. Neale publishes Write It Right, a book on grammatical usage.
1910
Third volume of Collected Works (April) contains revised version of Can Such Things Be?; fourth volume (December) contains revised version of Shapes of Clay. Bierce returns to California for an extended visit, May–October. Meets Jack London, Mary Austin, and other writers.
1911
Fifth volume (revised version of Black Beetles in Amber), sixth volume (The Monk and the Hangman’s Daughter and revised versio
n of Fantastic Fables), seventh volume (revised version of The Devil’s Dictionary), eighth volume (humorous and satirical stories), and ninth and tenth volumes (literary, polemical, satirical, and miscellaneous essays) of the Collected Works appear, March–August. Spends a month in Sag Harbor, Long Island, during the summer with relatives of George Sterling. In December attends funeral of Percival Pollard, where he makes acquaintance of H. L. Mencken.
1912
Final volumes of Collected Works appear: eleventh volume (October) contains “Antepenultimata” (revised version of The Shadow on the Dial), twelfth (December) contains “Kings of Beasts” (humorous essays in dialect) and miscellaneous satires, stories, and sketches. Makes last visit to California, June–October.
1913
Leaves Washington in October. Visits Civil War battlefields at Chattanooga, Chickamauga, Stones River, Nashville, Franklin, and Shiloh before going to New Orleans and Texas; in New Orleans, tells a newspaper reporter: “I’m on my way to Mexico, because I like the game. I like the fighting; I want to see it,” and adds, “there are so many things that might happen between now and when I come back.” Makes trip into northern Mexico before returning to Texas, then crosses the border again. Writes letter from Chihuahua on December 26, concluding “I leave here to-morrow for an unknown destination”; he is not heard from again, and his fate remains unknown.
Note on the Texts
This volume contains four book-length collections by Ambrose Bierce—In the Midst of Life (Tales of Soldiers and Civilians) (1909), Can Such Things Be? (1910), The Devil’s Dictionary (1911), and Bits of Autobiography (1909)—along with a selection of eight additional stories. These collections are presented in the order in which they were first published in book form—as Tales of Soldiers and Civilians in 1892, Can Such Things Be? in 1893, The Cynic’s Word Book (later expanded as The Devil’s Dictionary) in 1906, and Bits of Autobiography in 1909—but Bierce substantially rearranged the contents and revised the texts of all but Bits of Autobiography after they were first published. The texts in the present edition follow Bierce’s extensively revised, twelve-volume Collected Works (New York & Washington, DC: Neale Publishing, 1909–12), with one exception: the story “Mrs. Dennison’s Head,” not included in the Collected Works, is reprinted from the first edition of Bierce’s Cobwebs from an Empty Skull (London & New York: George Routledge & Sons, 1884), where it was first published in book form.
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