Pellucidar
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Publishing History/Plot Summary
Last updated 07/19/10
The
story was written from November 23, 1914 to January 11, 1915 (60,919 words).
It
appeared first as a five-part serial in All-Story Cavalier Weekly May 1
and 8, and then the magazine changed its name to All-Story Weekly and the
story continued on May 15, 22, and 29, 1915. Burroughs received $1,522 for this
story. Modest Stein did a Pellucidar cover for the first part, quite similar to
his cover for At the Earth’s Core. Stein received $25 for this
illustration. Burroughs included a map
in each part except for the second one. This is map #1 in the article, No
Homing Instinct Required.
Newspaper
serializations:
q
Philadelphia
Public Ledger,
Philadelphia, March 24, 1917
q
Seattle
Times,
Seattle, Washington, October 1923
q
Tacoma
News-Tribune,
Tacoma, Washington, 1923
It was first published as a book September 5, 1923 by A.C. McClurg & Co. It has a dust jacket illustration and four interior plates by J. Allen St. John. ERB's map is included. The book cover is red with black lettering.
Grosset & Dunlap reprinted the book in 1924. The St. John painting from the first edition was used for the dust jacket as well as the four interior plates. ERB's map is included. The book cover is red with black lettering. G & D reprinted the book fourteen times.
1962 Ace paperback with cover and title page drawing by Roy Krenkel - ERB's map is included (three printings).
1962
Canaveral hardcover with dust jacket, a map, and four interior illustrations by
Mahlon Blaine - The map was also used to illustrate the endpapers and one
flyleaf. This is map #3 in the article, No
Homing Instinct Required. The
book cover is yellow with black lettering.
1963
Dover trade paperback with cover and twelve illustrations by St. John and one
illustration by Paul Berdanier - This book contains map
#1. This book also
contains the stories At the Earth's Core and Tanar of Pellucidar (six
printings).
1963 Peter Smith hardcover – This edition has
no dust jacket and is identical to the Dover paperback
1972
Ace paperback with cover by Frank Frazetta (seven printings)
1982
Castle hardback with dust jacket inspired by St. John and four interior plates
by St. John - ERB's map
is included. The book’s cover is orange with black
lettering. This book also
contains the stories Thuvia,
Maid of Mars, Tanar of Pellucidar, The Chessmen of Mars, and The
Master Mind of Mars.
The second, third, and fourth printings of the 1982 Castle hardcover have dust jacket illustrations by Kevin Johnson. The second printing’s cover is orange with black lettering on the spine. The third and fourth printing’s covers are maroon with gold lettering on the spine. They are otherwise identical to the first printing.
1990
Ballantine-Del Rey paperback with cover by David Mattingly - ERB's map
is included (one printing).
2000
Amereon House hardcover – There is no dust jacket. ERB's
map
is included,
although there are no other interior illustrations.
2000
Quiet Vision is available four ways: hardcover with dust jacket, library bound,
and trade paperback with large or regular print. The hardcover version has all
the original interior illustrations.
2002
Wildside Press hardcover – This does not have a dust jacket, interior
illustrations, or a map. There is an introduction by Amy Sterling Casil. The
same introduction appears in the Wildside Press edition of At the Earth’s
Core.
2002 Bison Books trade paperback with cover by Thomas Floyd - It has the map. There is a frontispiece and three plates by St. John. There is an introduction by Jack McDevitt and an afterword by Phillip R. Burger.
2002 IndyPublish.com print-on-demand hardcover and paperback with generic covers
2003
Tantor Media audio book - Patrick Lawlor narrates this five-CD set, unabridged,
at five hours and fifty-eight minutes. It begins with a two and a half-minute
biography of Burroughs. The “Library Edition” is packaged in a durable vinyl case with
a riveted metal ring binder and plastic CD sleeves. A clear plastic overlay
protects the package cover art: part of the St. John first edition cover
illustration, on the front and spine. The audio book is also available in a
“Unikeep Package” and a “Slimline (one MP3 on CD) Package” at lower
prices. It is still available at www.tantor.com.
2003
Dover trade paperback with cover by Jeff A. Menzes - It has the map
and
frontispiece and four plates by St. John.
2004 1st World Library print-on-demand paperback with generic cover – www.1stworldpublishing.com
2004 Kessinger print-on-demand paperback with generic cover – www.kessinger.net
2005
Cosimo softcover with cover by St. John
2005
IndyPublish.com print-on-demand paperback with generic cover
2006
ERB Press (Jerry Schneider) -
This print-on-demand
hardcover is a textural reprint of the Grosset & Dunlap book printing which
used the original A. C. McClurg printing plates. It is illustrated with the J.
Allen St. John artwork, ERB's map,
and the St. John dust jacket.
2006
Black Cat Press print-on-demand softcover with cover and frontispiece by Ron
Miller – It doesn’t include a map or other interior illustrations.
2006 1st
World Library print-on-demand hardback with generic cover and no dust jacket –
www.1stworldpublishing.com
2007 AudioBookHouse.com – This book is available three ways. There is a print-on-demand 152-page softcover book that measures 8.26” x 11.69”. The book can also be purchased as a download. In addition, an audio book can be downloaded as a 5-hour mp3 file. The audio book is “read by AudioBookHouse’s David.”
2007 Wilder Publications A Treasury of Edgar Rice Burroughs – This 524-page softcover omnibus contains the first two Pellucidar books as well as seven other books by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
Please send me any pictures I am missing. Thanks.
Cogdon
Nestor, a wanderer, discovers the telegraph to Pellucidar and notifies Edgar
Rice Burroughs. The author comes immediately, and the wire tells the story of
David Innes’ continuing adventures in Pellucidar.
David
does indeed return to Pellucidar in the iron mole and releases the Mahar who had
traveled with him. Lost, he begins to map the land with his compass. He wanders
south for many sleeps until he comes upon his friend, Abner Perry, being pursued
by Sagoths. David kills several with his guns, and the remaining Sagoths flee.
Perry tells Innes that the Empire of Pellucidar is in disarray due to Hooja’s
deceptions, the tribes have resumed their feuding, and the Mahars and Sagoths
are again preying upon them.
With
the goal of finding Dian the Beautiful One in Sari, the two cross the Mountains
of the Clouds, narrowly surviving the cold, unforgiving landscape.
They
reach the Lural Az and build a ship, The Sari, to seek out David's old
friend, Ja. The Sari wins its first "naval engagement" against
unfriendly Mezops. They meet with Ja, and then David and a score of Mezops set
off for Sari while Perry and others go to retrieve the arms and books from the
prospector.
David
is captured by Sagoths and taken to Phutra. Unwilling at first to return their
Great Secret, he is put in the arena to face a savage tarag. The girl placed in
the arena with him, turns out to be Dian, and David is rejoined with his love.
The Mahars stop the fight at the urging of Tul-al-sa, the Mahar that had gone
with David to the surface. David finally agrees to turn over the Secret for
their freedom.
He
travels to the cave where he had hidden it, only to find that Hooja had beaten
him there. While David was in route, the Sly One had traded the Secret for Dian.
The Mahars have the Secret, so David is released.
David
receives word from Thuria that Hooja is building a rebel force on a great
island. He leaves Sari in search of it and his mate. By accident, he befriends a
hyaenodon who becomes loyal to him. He names him Raja, after his former dog on
the surface.
David
visits Thuria, but is chased off because they think he’s a spy. Raja runs off
unexpectedly.
Later,
on Hooja's island, the gorilla-sheep people capture David. Forced to work in
their fields, he wins freedom by helping the tribe defend an attack from Hooja's
men. David then meets Juag and rescues Dian from Hooja's encampment. Hooja
recaptures the three before they can make it off the island, but the
gorilla-sheep rescue them. The three return to the mainland where Dian is
kidnapped. Raja and a she-wolf, Ranee, join David and assist him in trailing and
killing the kidnapper.
David,
Dian, Juag, Raja, and Ranee set off for Sari. A windstorm blows the canoe well
off course, and they encounter Hooja's fleet. Their canoe's sail allows them to
outdistance Hooja's rowers. This escape is temporary, as later the canoe's mast
shears off, and Hooja appears destined to capture his foes. Suddenly the new
fleet of the Empire appears: fifty ships armed with canon and led by Perry and
Ja. They quickly dispatch Hooja's fleet, sail to Hooja's Island, take it, and
return Juag's ancestral home to him. The fleet and troops of the Empire go to
Phutra next and take that city. The Empire then gains additional allies in the
Luanians and marches from one Mahar city to another. They kill or capture the
Sagoths and drive the Mahars north, until all have fled the lands of the Empire.
With the Empire established, Innes and Perry introduce many innovations.
Links
chapter summary (ERBlist)
Lord Greystoke's Gallery: Pellucidar (ERBzine #432)
Pellucidar (ERBzine #742)
Introduction to Bison Press edition by Jack McDevitt
Sources:
q The reproduction dust jacket pictures above are from Bruce Wood's site. These fine reproductions can be purchased there.
q Some of the magazine pictures are from Bill Hillman's Bibliography of Pulp Magazines, an excellent source of information.
q
The
Exhaustive Scholar's and Collector's Descriptive Bibliography
by Robert B. Zeuschner (1996)
q
Bibliography
of “Pre-war” ERB Grosset & Dunlap Editions 1918-1941 by Joe Lukes
(2004)
q
Guide
to the Edgar Rice Burroughs Paperbacks Issues
by Lee J. Barrie (1996)
q
A
Golden Anniversary Bibliography of Edgar Rice Burroughs
by Henry Hardy Heins (2001)
q
Newspaper
Serialization of Stories by Edgar Rice Burroughs by Brad Bowman from Tarzine
#41, 1985
q
Price
and Reference Guide to books written by Edgar Rice Burroughs
by James A. Bergen, Jr. (1991)
q
Findings
On Collecting Ace Paperback Books for 29 Years by Bill Ross from ERB
Collector #48
q
The
Edgar Rice Burroughs Collector's Pocket Checklist
by J. G. Huckenpöhler
q
The
Newspapering of Edgar Rice Burroughs
by Robert R. Barrett from the Burroughs Bulletin New Series #61, Winter
2005
q
The
Munsey Heading Artists and Illustrators by
Robert R. Barrett from the Burroughs Bulletin New Series #68, Fall 2006
q
ERB’s
Pulp Art Paychecks
by Robert R. Barrett from the Burroughs Bulletin New Series #69, Winter
2007
q
Edgar
Rice Burroughs: The Man Who Created Tarzan
by Irwin Porges (1976)
q
The
Burroughs Bulletin New Series #43, #44, #58, and #64
q
ERBzine
#0741 at www.erbzine.com/mag7/0741.html
q
The
Cathne*Courier
by James F. Thompson from ERB-APA #92, Winter 2007
q
Rating
the ERB Books
by George Alonso from ERB-APA #40, Winter 1993
q
Master
of Adventure: The Worlds of Edgar Rice Burroughs
by Richard A. Lupoff (1965)
q
Jerry
Schneider provided information on the ERBville Press editions.
q
Bill
Ross allowed me to examine and photograph his copies of the Peter Smith and
Castle hardbacks. Thanks!
von Horst's Pellucidar established 12-25-98
