THE COLLECTED WORKS OF AMBROSE BIERCE

New York and Washington: The Neale Publishing Company, 1912. Hardcover. Good. A veteran of some of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War - among them Shiloh, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, and Kennesaw Mountain - Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) went on to become one of the darkest and most death-haunted of American writers, the blackest of black humorists. A prolific journalist who made himself a dominant figure in the emerging literary culture of postwar san Francisco, Bierce developed a style of slashing sarcasm that made him a feared antagonist. As a short story writer - whether drawing on wartime experiences or exploring realms of supernatural and psychological horror - he used extreme situations to give voice to his uniquely engrossing brand of pessimism. Octavo, twelve volumes: various paginations with a frontispiece portrait of Ambrose Bierce by F. Soule Campbell in the first volume. Original marbled paper-covered boards over tan cloth spines, with printed paper spine labels. Partially unopened. The spines are toned and a bit soiled, with some wear to the corners. BAL 1129. (Inventory #: 77740)