Letters of Ambrose Bierce to Myles Walsh, 1895-1911

The University of Cincinnati collection of Ambrose Bierce letters consists of fifty-nine items sent to Myles Walsh and donated by Walsh to the University of Cincinnati after World War II. Walsh's sister Elizabeth (Lily) was a protege of Bierce and during her illness -- and after her death -- in young adulthood, the two men began writing to each other about everyday matters as well as Bierce's journalism and fiction. These items are unique and revelatory in the biographical details they provide on a major author's life. Typically, the letters are four pages each, a.l.s., measuring 5" x 8" and totaling approximately 240 pages. Other major holdings of Bierce correspondence can be found at Stanford University, UC-Berkeley, UCLA, and the University of Virginia, with other letters held at a few other institutions.

In digitizing these letters, the University of Cincinnati makes them widely available for literary scholarship. Such a project includes accompanying transcriptions, links to the holdings of universities and scholarly websites, open acceptance of scholarly annotation, and the possibility of collaborative digitization with other repositories of Bierce material.

The Archives and Rare Books Library has created an online exhibition to highlight the The Ambrose Bierce Letters Project.