The Devil's Dictionary

Both editions named in the census claim are collected and the claim is correct. (1) The Cynic's Word Book, Doubleday, Page & Company, New York, 1906 — the first book form of the material, but only A-L; Bierce wanted the Devil's Dictionary title and the publisher refused it. (2) The Devil's Dictionary, The Neale Publishing Company, New York and Washington, 1911, being volume VII of The Collected Works of Ambrose Bierce — the first appearance under the famous title and the first complete alphabet, with 1,013 definitions, sold principally as twelve-volume sets (Neale advertised 250 numbered full-leather sets with volume I signed by Bierce, a few half-morocco sets, and the bulk in cloth; surviving royalty statements show far smaller actual sales). PRECEDENCE TRAP: the London edition from Arthur F. Bird carries a title page dated 1906 but was published in June 1907 from the American plates — a Bird copy is not the true first despite the 1906 date.