THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY
London: The Folio Society, (2003). Peter Forster. Reprint. Hardcover. A satirical dictionary consisting of common words followed by humorous and satirical definitions. The lexicon was written over three decades as a series of installments for magazines and newspapers. Bierce's witty definitions were imitated and plagiarized for years before he gathered them into books, first as The Cynic's Word Book in 1906 and then in a more complete version as The Devil's Dictionary. Introduction by Miles Kington and illustrated by Peter Forster. As always this publisher produces a fine presentation. Hardbound in cloth and marbled boards with the original slipcase, 365 pages. 16mo. First published in 1911, Bierce, an American journalist of the late nineteenth century who was famous in his own day for being the most savage newspaper commentator on human affairs (mostly American) who vanished mysteriously in Mexico about the beginning of the Great War. Set in Miller text at the Folio Society in Great Britain by the St Edmundsbury Press on Caxton wove paper. Bound by Cambridge University Press in buckrum with printed marble paper sides. A fine copy in a fine slipcase, as issued. Item #14811
Price: $75.00