Write It Right: A Little Blacklist of Literary Faults [1st/2nd printing]

NY and Washington: Neale Publishing, 1909. 1st edition, 2nd printing. Issued in December 1909, two months after the 1st printing. [BAL 1128. Starrett 23.] Bierce's classic little guide to precise writing and English usage. More than 400 brief entries, arranged alphabetically and laced with his trademark wit and sardonic humor. Less a set of hard rules for writers than a catalog of Bierce's own language peeves and preferences. 73 pp. 16mo clothbound hardcover. 6.25 x 4 inches. Good overall. Wear along the front joint, old ink stains to the upper rear cover. Clean internally. A sound copy in a new, clear archival jacket. Bibliographic Note: Early printings of this title are scarce. This 2nd printing has the correct first binding design and color, as described by Vincent Starrett in his 1929 Bierce bibliography as "tan cloth (pale yellow perhaps.)" Distinguished from the 1st printing by a slightly larger page size and several small corrections in the text. Writing nearly a century ago, Starrett said the 1st printing was already hard to find in good condition, having been "snapped up by newspaper men and such like fellows, and worn out in many pockets."