Identification points are listed only where two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 20 Oct 2026.
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The book first appeared as The Cynic's Word Book (Doubleday, Page, New York, October 1906), covering only A to L. Doubleday sold the British rights, and the first British edition is the Arthur F. Bird issue under the same title. Its title page reads London, Arthur F. Bird, 22 Bedford Street, Strand, dated 1906, and the verso states it was printed in New York. Bird reused the American plates, and Wikipedia records that the book actually came out in June 1907. It runs to 233 pages, so the London title page is the thing to look for. The full text as The Devil's Dictionary first appeared as volume 7 of Neale's Collected Works (1911). Gollancz's London book of 1967 is The Enlarged Devil's Dictionary, edited by E. J. Hopkins with added material, and is not a first edition of Bierce's book.
We have not yet confirmed the issue points that tell this first impression from later ones. Until we do, compare your copy's title page and copyright page with the publisher, place and year above: any later printing or edition statement means it is not this one.
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Arthur F. Bird, London, in 1906, in hardback.
Points of issue are listed only where at least two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 20 October 2026. Reviewed by Harriet Ellis; read how we check facts.
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