IN 1982, CATHY N. DAVIDSON wrote that the “rediscovery” of Ambrose Bierce was a recurring and puzzling phenomenon in American letters. “We see various literary critics who, at odd intervals and in different generations, ‘rediscover’ the same ‘lost’ writer,” she observed. “Something is clearly wrong here if for nearly seventy-five years the standard essay on Bierce must begin by attempting to reclaim him -- again -- from critical obscurity.”

More than twenty years later, some admirers of Bierce would argue that he remains a neglected writer in need of yet another scholarly revival. Others have greater ambitions for Bierce; they look forward to a future moment when he will reach his full stature as a major American author. Four years ago, Robert L. Gale predicted that such a moment drew near. “Bierce is a memorable man of letters,” he declared darkly, “and should – and will – be seen as a towering figure in the ineluctably dystopian times we all have yet to face.”

Bierce may never be viewed as a towering figure in American literary history, but I would argue that he is far from being “lost.” A glance at any bibliography of Bierce scholarship reveals that many talented critics have studied his work during the last three decades. In recent years especially, university presses have published a number of important books about Bierce, as well as collections of his letters and autobiographical writings. Moreover, in 2002 the University of Massachusetts Press published the complete Civil War writings of Bierce, followed last year by the Kent State University Press edition of Tales of Soldiers and Civilians (1891). David M. Owens’s book on Bierce and the American war story will arrive in 2006, and a new annotated edition of Bierce’s collected fiction – edited by Lawrence I. Berkove, S. T. Joshi, and David E. Schultz – will follow in 2007. Bierce is popular with non-academic readers as well. His photograph dominated the cover of the October 2005 issue of Civil War Times, and the magazine devoted twenty-two pages to writings by or about the former soldier. Stories by Bierce, particularly “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” continue to appear in school textbooks and short fiction anthologies. And Bierce can also be found on the World Wide Web, as the subject of several fan sites and at least one “Appreciation Society.”

In light of such scholarly and popular activity, it would be odd indeed to cast the new ABP Journal as an attempt to rediscover a long-neglected writer. To the contrary, this journal proceeds from the premise that scholars have for years produced quality work on Bierce, and that they will continue to do so. Our purpose is therefore to promote and review new scholarly analyses of Bierce and his contemporaries, to encourage an exchange of ideas, and to bring together thinkers from a wide range of disciplines.

In keeping with that vision, our first issue offers two articles and six literary briefs on Bierce’s Civil War literature and its legacy in international art and culture. This issue also offers reviews of three books relevant to Bierce scholarship, including a new edition of Bierce’s most famous story collection. Our contributors hail from Germany, the United States, and Wales, and represent an array of fields: literary studies, theater, media studies, philosophy, and history. As the work of these scholars demonstrates, and as I hope the ABP Journal will long make clear to its readers, the complex art and philosophy of Ambrose Bierce remain relevant to numerous areas of intellectual pursuit.

We at the Ambrose Bierce Project and Penn State University look forward to developing a rich, rewarding, and useful online publication. I hope you will visit the larger ABP as well as the journal, and join the community of individuals who share an interest in Bierce and his culture.

It has been a pleasure to develop and edit the inaugural issue of the ABP Journal. I am grateful to the ABP Advisory Board for its support during the peer-review process, and wish to recognize the fine work of Natasha Cabelof, the ABP editorial assistant. Although Bierce’s writing is often grim, it has never been grim to work with these encouraging and enthusiastic colleagues.

CRAIG A. WARREN
Editor, The Ambrose Bierce Project
Penn State Erie, The Behrend College