Books with title The Devil’s Dictionary

Dark Moon Press brings you the classic The Devil's Dictionary a satirical reference book written by Ambrose Bierce, which earned him the epithets Bitter Bierce, the Devil’s Lexicographer, and the Wickedest Man in San Francisco. The book offers reinterpretations of terms in the English language, lampooning cant and political doublespeak. It was originally published in 1906 as The Cynic’s Word Book before being retitled in 1911. “An enjoyable work, fun to read as well as thought-provoking....Just because the dictionary is 90 years old doesn't make it any less apropos for modern readers.” ~ Naples Daily News

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.

The Devil's Dictionary is a satirical dictionary written by American Civil War soldier, journalist, and short story writer Ambrose Bierce consisting of common words followed by "howlingly funny"[1] 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 in 1911.Initial reception of the book versions was mixed. In the decades following, however, the stature increased of The Devil's Dictionary. It has been widely quoted, frequently translated, and often imitated, earning a global reputation. In the 1970s, The Devil's Dictionary was named as one of "The 100 Greatest Masterpieces of American Literature" by the American Revolution Bicentennial Administration.[2] Wall Street Journal columnist Jason Zweig said that The Devil's Dictionary is "probably the most brilliant work of satire written in America. And maybe one of the greatest in all of world literature

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

How did Oliver Twist and the Artful Dodger happen to meet? Where was David Copperfield born, and what is Pip's real name? The answer to every question about Dickens' characters and their fates are revealed in this remarkable book. Subtitled "A Key to the Plots and Characters in the Tales of Charles Dickens," it was compiled in 1872 by a leading expert of the era and updated at the turn of the twentieth century.Readers on both sides of the Atlantic hailed this master key to the beloved storyteller's work as the definitive reference, covering every novel, short story, play, and poem. Each of the novels, from The Pickwick Papers onwards, appears with an outline and an Index to Characters, which quotes the original work at length. Twenty-six engravings complement the text, evoking the world of Victorian illustrated magazines, in which many of these stories first appeared.

The Devil's Dictionary did not reappear in Bierce's next column ("Prattle," in the magazine The Argonaut, of which he had become an editor in March 1877). Nevertheless, he used the idea of comic definitions in his columns dated November 17, 1877, and September 14, 1878. It was in early 1881 that Bierce first used the title, The Devil's Dictionary, while editor-in-chief of another weekly San Francisco magazine, Wasp. The "dictionary" proved popular, and during his time in this post (1881-86) he included 88 installments, each of 15-20 new definitions. In 1887 Bierce became an editor in The Examiner and featured "The Cynic's Dictionary," which was to be the last of his "dictionary" columns until they reappeared in 1904, when they continued erratically before finishing in July 1906. A number of the definitions are accompanied by satiric verses, many of which are signed with comic pseudonyms such as Salder Bupp and Orm Pludge; the most frequently appearing "contributor" is "that learned and ingenious cleric, Father Gassalasca Jape, S.J., whose lines bear his initials". What had started as a newspaper serialization was first reproduced in book form in 1906 under the dubious title Cynic's Word Book. Published by Doubleday, Page and Company, this contained definitions of 500 words in the first half of the alphabet (A-L). A further 500 words (M-Z) were published in 1911 in Volume 7 of The Collected Works of Ambrose Bierce, this time under the name of The Devil's Dictionary. This was a name much preferred by Bierce and he claimed the earlier 'more reverent' title had been forced upon him by the religious scruples of his previous employer. (wikipedia)

This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curated for quality. Quality assurance was conducted on each of these books in an attempt to remove books with imperfections introduced by the digitization process. Though we have made best efforts - the books may have occasional errors that do not impede the reading experience. We believe this work is culturally important and have elected to bring the book back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.