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Finding Aid to the Collection of Ambrose Bierce Papers, 1875-1925, bulk 1890-1913
BANC MSS C-H 62
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Table of contents
Collection Title: Collection of Ambrose Bierce papers
Date (inclusive): 1875-1925,
Date (bulk): bulk 1890-1913
Collection Number: BANC MSS C-H 62
Creators :
Bierce, Ambrose, 1842-1914?
Extent:
Number of containers: 2 boxes, 1 volume, and 1 oversize folder
Linear feet: 0.75
Repository: The Bancroft Library
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, California, 94720-6000
Phone: (510) 642-6481
Fax: (510) 642-7589
Email: bancref@library.berkeley.edu
URL: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/
Abstract: Contains outgoing correspondence, including letters to his daughter Helen D. Cowden, a young friend Amy L. Wells, fellow writers
William Chambers Morrow and James Tufts, and publisher Walter Neale. See container list for a complete listing of correspondents.
Also includes a sketch of Bierce by Wells, clippings about and by Bierce, writings by Amy L. Wells, a letter to Wells asking
for information pertaining to Bierce's disappearance, and poems by brother Albert Sherwood Bierce. The album of letters to
Helen D. Cowden includes two photographs of Ambrose Bierce, a copy of a poem, and transcriptions of Bierce's letters to his
daughter.
Languages Represented: Collection materials are in English
Physical Location: Many of the Bancroft Library collections are stored offsite and advance notice may be required for use. For current information
on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Collection is open for research.
All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the
Head of Public Services, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 94270-6000. Consent is given on behalf
of The Bancroft Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission from the copyright
owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright owner. See:
http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/reference/permissions.html .
Restrictions also apply to digital representations of the original materials. Use of digital files is restricted to research
and educational purposes.
[Identification of item], Collection of Ambrose Bierce Papers, BANC MSS C-H 62, The Bancroft Library, University of California,
Berkeley.
Part of the collection is available on microfilm, see container list for details. (BANC FILM C-H 62 and BANC FILM 2166)
Ambrose Bierce papers. (BANC MSS 75/57)
Herman George Scheffauer papers. (BANC MSS C-H 89; BANC MSS 73/87; BANC MSS 84/22)
Ina Donna Coolbrith collection of letters and papers. (BANC MSS C-H 23)
Partington family papers: additions. (BANC MSS 81/143)
Ambrose Geinett Bierce papers at Stanford University.
Papers of Ambrose Bierce at the Clifton Waller Barrett Library, the University of Virginia.
Bierce Cartoon of the "Aviator Second Trip" has been transferred to the Pictorial Collections of The Bancroft Library. (BANC
PIC 19xx.067--C)
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Bierce, Ambrose, 1842-1914?
Bierce, Ambrose, 1842-1914?--Correspondence
Bierce, Ambrose, 1842-1914?--Portraits
Cowden, Helen D. --Correspondence
Wells, Amy L. --Correspondence
Morrow, W. C. (William Chambers), 1853-1923--Correspondence
Tufts, James--Correspondence
Neale, Walter, 1873-1933--Correspondence
Bierce, Albert Sherwood--Poetic works
Authors, American--19th century--Correspondence
Satirists--Correspondence
Letters
Clippings
Poems
Photographs
The Collection of Ambrose Bierce Papers were given to and purchased by The Bancroft Library from various sources over many
years. Items in the collection are identified with respect to provenance on folders.
No additions are expected.
Arranged to the folder level.
Re-Processed by Alison E. Bridger in 2007.
Ambrose Bierce, born June 24, 1842 in Meigs County, Ohio, was an American author best known for his satire and supernatural
stories. Many of his stories also came from his experiences serving in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
After the war, Bierce moved to San Francisco, where he worked on several publications including
Overland Monthly, the San Francisco
Argonaut, the
Wasp, and the
San Francisco Examiner. In 1896, he moved to Washington, D.C. where he lobbied for William Randolph Hearst while still contributing to many newspapers
and magazines.
Bierce married Mollie Day, a wealthy miner's daughter, in 1871, and they had two sons, Day and Leigh, and a daughter, Helen.
The couple separated in 1888, then divorced in 1905.
Late in 1913, Ambrose Bierce joined Pancho Villa in the Mexican Revolution, where all trace of Bierce was lost. It is believed
that Bierce probably died in the battle of Ojinaya on January 11, 1914.
Scope and Content of Collection
Contains outgoing correspondence, including letters to his daughter Helen D. Cowden, a young friend Amy L. Wells, fellow writers
William Chambers Morrow and James Tufts, and publisher Walter Neale. See container list for a complete listing of correspondents.
Also includes a sketch of Bierce by Wells, clippings about and by Bierce, writings by Amy L. Wells, a letter to Wells asking
for information pertaining to Bierce's disappearance, and poems by brother Albert Sherwood Bierce. The album of letters to
Helen D. Cowden includes two photographs of Ambrose Bierce, a copy of a poem, and transcriptions of Bierce's letters to his
daughter.