Ambrose Bierce

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Ambrose Bierce (1842-ca. 1914). Letter to Robert Mackay, Esq., 23 April 1903, Washington, D.C.

Bierce requests the honor of meeting with Mackay while in Washington. He confesses that when in New York he is “bewildered by the number of places at which I am expected, and have recently adopted the plan of sneaking [underlined] into the city virtually in disguise.”" Bierce further states that while he is on salary with Mr. Hearst, he does not feel himself at liberty to write anything other than stories for other publications; he avers that this is not part of his contract, but that it is policy nonetheless. Bierce fought on the Union side of the Civil War, and was deeply affected by the Battle of Shiloh in 1862; he later published short stories about his wartime experiences. His caustic essays appear in several journals, and he also contributed a regular column to William Randolph Hearst San Francisco Examiner. Bierce disappeared in Mexico in 1913 and the circumstances of his death are unknown.

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This letter is available on the digital library project I Remain.