Black Beetles in Amber

First Edition. (Gaer 9; BAL 1111.) His first published volume of poems. (Wiggins 31.) Grey boards, gilt lettering at front cover and spine, blind stamp ruled, a bit soiled as is common. Corners turned in, shelf wear at head and tail. Very Good. Bierce’s title for the volume of his satirical verse was likely inspired by Walter Blackburn Harte’s disappointment at his “spinning amber round stinking fish.” The duo who formed the Western Authors Publishing Company, Dr. Gustav Adolph Danziger and a William M. Langton, persuaded Bierce to advance five hundred dollars to them. In return, the publishing company issued Black Beetles in Amber in 1892. Danziger had handled the costs of publication and quibbled so much about it that Bierce severed business ties with him, leading to a formal relinquishment of rights to Bierce for Black Beetles in Amber in 1894. (Grenander 60-61.)