IN THE MIDST OF LIFE: TALES OF SOLDIERS AND CIVILIANS.
New York and London: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1898. Small octavo, pp. [1-2] [i-ii] iii [iv] v-vi 1-362 [363-366: ads] [367-368: blank] [note: first and last leaves are blanks], original decorated maroon cloth, front and spine panels stamped in gold. Enlarged edition. First printing of the enlarged edition of TALES OF SOLDIERS AND CIVILIANS (1891), the first and best of two collections of Bierce's short fiction published during his lifetime. The enlarged edition adds three stories including the classic, "The Damned Thing," a chilling narrative of an encounter with a malignant being from another dimension. Anatomy of Wonder (1995) 1-13. Barron (ed), Horror Literature 2-7. Bleiler, The Guide to Supernatural Fiction 162. Clareson, Science Fiction in America, 1870s-1930s 073. Sullivan (ed), The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural, pp. 33-4. Survey of Modern Fantasy Literature III, pp. 1436-40. Tymn (ed), Horror Literature 3-23. Bleiler (1978), p. 23. Wright (III) 523. BAL 1119. Starrett 15. Baird and Greenwood, An Annotated Bibliography of California Fiction 1664-1970 250. The Paul Lemperly copy with his bookplate, which has been boldly signed by Bierce, affixed to the front paste-down. Bierce's signature was acquired for Lemperly by W. A. Brewer through A. M. Robertson, a San Francisco bookseller and publisher, who published Bierce's THE SHADOW ON THE DIAL AND OTHER ESSAYS (1909). A short signed autograph note (ANs) from Robertson to Dr. Brewer forwarding the Bierce signature (undated, but docketed 27 June 1910 by Lemperly) is tipped in on the front free endpaper. Slight spine lean, extremities of cloth rubbed, top edge of text block dusty, a very good copy in good printed dust jacket with chips from edges (no typography affected) and reinforcement by paper on the inner surface. (13347). Item #13347
Price: $4,250.00