The Devil's Dictionary

I reformatted the Mundus version of this book the other day. I hope it looks better for everyone now. The Devil's Dictionary was begun in a weekly paper in 1881, and was continued in a desultory way at long intervals until 1906. In that year a large part of it was published in covers with the title The Cynic's Word Book, a name which the author had not the power to reject or happiness to approve. To quote the publishers of the present work: "This more reverent title had previously been forced upon him by the religious scruples of the last newspaper in which a part of the work had appeared, with the natural consequence that when it came out in covers the country already had been flooded by its imitators with a score of 'cynic' books - The Cynic's This, The Cynic's That, and The Cynic's t'Other. Most of these books were merely stupid, though some of them added the distinction of silliness. Among them, they brought the word "cynic" into disfavor so deep that any book bearing it was discredited in advance of publication."Meantime, too, some of the enterprising humorists of the country had helped themselves to such parts of the work as served their needs, and many of its definitions, anecdotes, phrases and so forth, had become more or less current in popular speech. This explanation is made, not with any pride of priority in trifles, but in simple denial of possible charges of plagiarism, which is no trifle. In merely resuming his own the author hopes to be held guiltless by those to whom the work is addressed - enlightened souls who prefer dry wines to sweet, sense to sentiment, wit to humor and clean English to slang.

bierce's Classic Work Of Satirical Wit And Steadman's Pointed Pen Redefine The Way We See Even The Seemingly Simplest Of Terms.

library Journal

this Enjoyable Abridgment Is An Updated Version Of A Classic Lexicon By One Of The 19th Century's Most Famous Satirists. Originally Published Between 1881 And 1886 As A Regular Feature In The Wasp, A San Francisco Journal, And Again In 1904 In Hearst Papers, Bierce's 700 Definitions Are Just As Humorous, Witty, And Satiric Today As They Were Then. They Mock Social, Professional, And Religious Conventions While Also Providing A Small Glimpse Into Late 19th-century Society. Entries Include, For Example, Apologize (to Lay The Foundation For A Future Offence); Beggar (one Who Has Relied On The Assistance Of His Friends); And Saint (a Dead Sinner Revised And Edited). Illustrations By Satiric Cartoonist Steadman Complement The Text, While Angus Calder's (the People's War) Introduction Provides Basic Biographical Data On Bierce's Life And Works And A Brief Bibliography. Recommended For Public And Academic Libraries.-laurie Selwyn, Grayson Cty. Law Lib., Sherman, Tx Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

History, n. an account mostly false, of events mostly unimportant, which are brought about by rulers mostly knaves, and soldiers mostly fools. Marriage, n. The state or condition of a community consisting of a master, a mistress, and two slaves, making in all two. Self-Esteem, n. An erroneous appraisement. These caustic aphorisms, collected in The Devil's Dictionary, helped earn reporter Ambrose Bierce the epithet's Bitter Bierce, the Devil's Lexicographer, and the Wickedest Man in San Francisco. First published as The Cynic's Word Book (1906) and later reissued under its preferred title in 1911, Bierce's notorious collection of barbed definitions forcibly contradicts Samuel Johnson's earlier definition of a lexicographer as a harmless drudge. These caustic aphorisms, collected in The Devil's Dictionary, helped earn Ambrose Bierce the epithets Bitter Bierce, the Devil's Lexicographer, and the Wickedest Man in San Francisco. First published as The Cynic's Word Book (1906) and later reissued under its preferred name in 1911, Bierce's notorious collection of barbed definitions forcibly contradicts Samuel Johnson's earlier definition of a lexicographer as a harmless drudge. There was nothing harmless about Ambrose Bierce, and the words he shaped into verbal pitchforks a century ago--with or without the devil's help--can still draw blood today Cover......Page 1 Preface......Page 2 A......Page 3 B......Page 12 C......Page 18 D......Page 27 E......Page 34 F......Page 41 G......Page 49 H......Page 55 I......Page 63 J......Page 75 K......Page 77 L......Page 80 M......Page 89 N......Page 99 O......Page 101 P......Page 106 Q......Page 117 R......Page 118 S......Page 130 T......Page 145 U......Page 152 V......Page 154 W......Page 155 X......Page 160 Y......Page 161 Z......Page 162 A satiric lexicon first published as "The Cynic's Word Book" in 1906, and later reissued under the author's preferred titled in 1911. Ambrose Bierce was one of the most celebrated reporters of his era and built his literary reputation partly on this work.