Description Ambrose Bierce, journalist and former soldier for the Union army in the Civil War, began writing satirical definitions for the San Francisco Wasp in 1881, and later for the San Francisco Examiner , launching a journalistic career that would see him liked and loathed in equal measure and earn him the title of the wickedest man in San Francisco.
A contemporary of Mark Twain, Bierce brought his biting humor to bear on spoof definitions of every.
Bodleian Library The devil's dictionary, hardcover/ambrose bierce
