The Dance of Death by Ambrose Bierce (Illustrated)
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Having established their name as the leading publisher of classic literature and art, Delphi Classics produce publications that are individually crafted with superior formatting, while introducing many rare texts for the first time in digital print. The Delphi Classics edition of Bierce includes original annotations and illustrations relating to the life and works of the author, as well as individual tables of contents, allowing you to navigate eBooks quickly and easily.
eBook features:* The complete unabridged text of ‘The Dance of Death’
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Ambrose Bierce
Ambrose Bierce was an American writer, critic and war veteran. Bierce fought for the Union Army during the American Civil War, eventually rising to the rank of brevet major before resigning from the Army following an 1866 expedition across the Great Plains. Bierce’s harrowing experiences during the Civil War, particularly those at the Battle of Shiloh, shaped a writing career that included editorials, novels, short stories and poetry. Among his most famous works are “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” “The Boarded Window,” “Chickamauga,” and What I Saw of Shiloh. While on a tour of Civil-War battlefields in 1913, Bierce is believed to have joined Pancho Villa’s army before disappearing in the chaos of the Mexican Revolution.
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The Monk and the Hangman’s Daughter by Ambrose Bierce (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Land Beyond the Blow by Ambrose Bierce (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Dance of Death by Ambrose Bierce (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPresent at a Hanging, and Other Ghost Stories by Ambrose Bierce (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Fiend’s Delight by Ambrose Bierce (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIn the Midst of Life: Tales of Soldiers and Civilians by Ambrose Bierce (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCobwebs from an Empty Skull by Ambrose Bierce (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Parenticide Club by Ambrose Bierce (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNegligible Tales by Ambrose Bierce (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCan Such Things Be? by Ambrose Bierce (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFantastic Fables by Ambrose Bierce (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Fourth Estate by Ambrose Bierce (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Letters of Ambrose Bierce by Ambrose Bierce (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMiscellaneous Tales by Ambrose Bierce (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Ocean Wave by Ambrose Bierce (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKings of Beasts by Ambrose Bierce (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTwo Administrations by Ambrose Bierce (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Shadow on the Dial, and Other Essays by Ambrose Bierce (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Devil’s Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAmbrose Bierce: A Biography by Carey Mcwilliams (Illustrated) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
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The Dance of Death by Ambrose Bierce (Illustrated) - Ambrose Bierce
The Complete Works of
AMBROSE BIERCE
VOLUME 1 OF 35
The Dance of Death
Parts Edition
By Delphi Classics, 2013
Version 1
COPYRIGHT
‘The Dance of Death’
Ambrose Bierce: Parts Edition (in 35 parts)
First published in the United Kingdom in 2017 by Delphi Classics.
© Delphi Classics, 2017.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form other than that in which it is published.
ISBN: 978 1 78656 425 2
Delphi Classics
is an imprint of
Delphi Publishing Ltd
Hastings, East Sussex
United Kingdom
Contact: sales@delphiclassics.com
www.delphiclassics.com
Ambrose Bierce: Parts Edition
This eBook is Part 1 of the Delphi Classics edition of Ambrose Bierce in 35 Parts. It features the unabridged text of The Dance of Death from the bestselling edition of the author’s Complete Works. Having established their name as the leading publisher of classic literature and art, Delphi Classics produce publications that are individually crafted with superior formatting, while introducing many rare texts for the first time in digital print. Our Parts Editions feature original annotations and illustrations relating to the life and works of Ambrose Bierce, as well as individual tables of contents, allowing you to navigate eBooks quickly and easily.
Visit here to buy the entire Parts Edition of Ambrose Bierce or the Complete Works of Ambrose Bierce in a single eBook.
Learn more about our Parts Edition, with free downloads, via this link or browse our most popular Parts here.
AMBROSE BIERCE
IN 35 VOLUMES
Parts Edition Contents
The Novellas
1, The Dance of Death
2, The Monk and the Hangman’s Daughter
3, The Land Beyond the Blow
The Short Story Collections
4, The Fiend’s Delight
5, Cobwebs from an Empty Skull
6, Present at a Hanging, and Other Ghost Stories
7, In the Midst of Life: Tales of Soldiers and Civilians
8, Can Such Things Be?
9, Fantastic Fables
10, Negligible Tales
11, The Parenticide Club
12, The Fourth Estate
13, The Ocean Wave
14, Kings of Beasts
15, Two Administrations
16, Miscellaneous Tales
The Poetry Collections
17, Black Beetles in Amber
18, Shapes of Clay
19, Fables in Rhyme
20, Some Ante-Mortem Epitaphs
21, The Scrap Heap
The Non-Fiction
22, The Shadow on the Dial, and Other Essays
23, The Devil’s Dictionary
24, Write It Right
25, Ashes of the Beacon
26, On with the Dance!
: A Review
27, A Cynic Looks at Life
28, Tangential Views
29, Bits of Autobiography
30, Miscellaneous Articles and Reviews
31, Uncollected Essays
The Letters
32, The Letters of Ambrose Bierce
The Criticism
33, The Criticism
Biercian Texts
34, Biercian Articles and Reviews
The Biography
35, Ambrose Bierce: A Biography by Carey Mcwilliams
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The Dance of Death
Bierce wrote The Dance of Death with Thomas A. Harcourt, published by Keller of San Francisco in 1877 and using the nom de plume, William Herman. Bierce later said that Harcourt’s father-in-law, the photographer William Rulofson, suggested the scheme and supplied the sinews of sin.
Tongue firmly in cheek, the authors denounced the waltz, describing it in often lewd, lurid and lascivious terms. Critics and clergymen argued over whether the diatribe was serious or satirical and the fascinated public purchased 20,000 copies in its first year. An anonymous author replied by defending the waltz in The Dance of Life.
The first edition
CONTENTS
PREFACE.
CHAPTER I.
CHAPTER II.
CHAPTER III.
CHAPTER IV.
CHAPTER V.
CHAPTER VI.
CHAPTER VII.
CHAPTER VIII.
CHAPTER IX.
CHAPTER X.
Two Bierce letters dealing with the somewhat confusing authorship of ‘The Dance of Death’
THE DANCE OF DEATH BY WILLIAM HERMAN
"Wilt thou bring fine gold for a payment
For sins on this wise?
For the glittering of raiment
And the shining of eyes,
For the painting of faces
And the sundering of trust,
For the sins of thine high places
And delight of thy lust?"
* * * * * * *
"Not with fine gold for a payment,
But with coin of sighs,
But with rending of raiment
And with weeping of eyes,
But with shame of stricken faces
And with strewing of dust,
For the sin of stately places
And lordship of lust."
SWINBURNE.
PREFACE.
The writer of these pages is not foolish enough to suppose that he can escape strong and bitter condemnation for his utterances. On this score he is not disposed to be greatly troubled; and for these reasons: Firstly — he feels that he is performing a duty; secondly — he is certain that his sentiments will be endorsed by hundreds upon whose opinion he sets great value; thirdly — he relieves his mind of a burden that has oppressed it for many years; and fourthly — as is evident upon the face of these pages — he is no professed litterateur, who can be starved by adverse criticism. Nevertheless he would be apostate to his self-appointed mission if he invited censure by unseemly defiance of those who must read and pass judgment upon his work. While, therefore, he does not desire to invoke the leniency of the professional critic or the casual reader, he does desire to justify the position he has taken as far as may be consistent with good taste.
It will doubtless be asserted by many: That the writer is a bigoted parson,
whose puritanical and illiberal ideas concerning matters of which he has no personal experience belong to an age that is happily passed. On the contrary, he is a man of the world, who has mixed much in society both in