The Collected John Carter of Mars (Volume 1)
Copyright © 2012 Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. All rights reserved. Published by Disney Editions, an imprint of Disney Book Group. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher. For information, address Disney Editions, 114 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10011-5690.
A Princess of Mars was originally published under the title “Under the Moon of Mars” by Norman Bean (pseudonym) in All-Story Magazine as a six-part serial, February through July 1912. It was first published as a book under the title A Princess of Mars by The Ballantine Publishing Group, Copyright © 1912 Frank A. Munsey Company. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. The Gods of Mars was first published in All-Story Magazine as a ten-part serial, January through May 1913. It was first published as a book by The Random House Publishing Group, Copyright © 1913 Frank A. Munsey Company. All rights reserved. The Warlord of Mars was first published in All-Story Magazine as a four-part serial, December 1913 through March 1914. It was first published as a book by The Random House Publishing Group, Copyright © 1913, 1914 Frank A. Munsey Company. All rights reserved. These authorized editions are published by Disney Editions in arrangement with Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.
Printed in the United States of America
ISBN 978-1-4231-7030-3
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Table of Contents
A Princess of Mars
A Princess of Mars - Chapter I
A Princess of Mars - Chapter II
A Princess of Mars - Chapter III
A Princess of Mars - Chapter IV
A Princess of Mars - Chapter V
A Princess of Mars - Chapter VI
A Princess of Mars - Chapter VII
A Princess of Mars - Chapter VIII
A Princess of Mars - Chapter IX
A Princess of Mars - Chapter X
A Princess of Mars - Chapter XI
A Princess of Mars - Chapter XII
A Princess of Mars - Chapter XIII
A Princess of Mars - Chapter XIV
A Princess of Mars - Chapter XV
A Princess of Mars - Chapter XVI
A Princess of Mars - Chapter XVII
A Princess of Mars - Chapter XVIII
A Princess of Mars - Chapter XIX
A Princess of Mars - Chapter XX
A Princess of Mars - Chapter XXI
A Princess of Mars - Chapter XXII
A Princess of Mars - Chapter XXIII
A Princess of Mars - Chapter XXIV
A Princess of Mars - Chapter XXV
A Princess of Mars - Chapter XXVI
A Princess of Mars - Chapter XXVII
A Princess of Mars - Chapter XXVIII
The Gods of Mars
The God of Mars - Chapter I
The God of Mars - Chapter II
The God of Mars - Chapter III
The God of Mars - Chapter IV
The God of Mars - Chapter V
The God of Mars - Chapter VI
The God of Mars - Chapter VII
The God of Mars - Chapter VIII
The God of Mars - Chapter IX
The God of Mars - Chapter X
The God of Mars - Chapter XI
The God of Mars - Chapter XII
The God of Mars - Chapter XIII
The God of Mars - Chapter XIV
The God of Mars - Chapter XV
The God of Mars - Chapter XVI
The God of Mars - Chapter XVII
The God of Mars - Chapter XVIII
The God of Mars - Chapter XIX
The God of Mars - Chapter XX
The God of Mars - Chapter XXI
The God of Mars - Chapter XXII
The Warlord of Mars
The Warlord of Mars - Chapter I
The Warlord of Mars - Chapter II
The Warlord of Mars - Chapter III
The Warlord of Mars - Chapter IV
The Warlord of Mars - Chapter V
The Warlord of Mars - Chapter VI
The Warlord of Mars - Chapter VII
The Warlord of Mars - Chapter VIII
The Warlord of Mars - Chapter IX
The Warlord of Mars - Chapter X
The Warlord of Mars - Chapter XI
The Warlord of Mars - Chapter XII
The Warlord of Mars - Chapter XIII
The Warlord of Mars - Chapter XIV
The Warlord of Mars - Chapter XV
The Warlord of Mars - Chapter XVI
chapter I
ON THE ARIZONA HILLS
I AM A VERY OLD MAN; how old I do not know. Possibly I am a hundred, possibly more; but I cannot tell because I have never aged as other men, nor do I remember any childhood. So far as I can recollect I have always been a man, a man of about thirty. I appear today as I did forty years and more ago, and yet I feel that I cannot go on living forever; that some day I shall die the real death from which there is no resurrection. I do not know why I should fear death, I who have died twice and am still alive; but yet I have the same horror of it as you who have never died, and it is because of this terror of death, I believe, that I am so convinced of my mortality.
And because of this conviction I have determined to write down the story of the interesting periods of my life and of my death. I cannot explain the phenomena; I can only set down here in the words of an ordinary soldier of fortune a chronicle of the strange events that befell me during the ten years that my dead body lay undiscovered in an Arizona cave.
I have never told this story, nor shall mortal man see this manuscript until after I have passed over for eternity. I know that the average human mind will not believe what it cannot grasp, and so I do not purpose being pilloried by the public, the pulpit, and the press, and held up as a colossal liar when I am but telling the simple truths which some day science will substantiate. Possibly the suggestions which I gained upon Mars, and the knowledge which I can set down in this chronicle, will aid in an earlier understanding of the mysteries of our sister planet; mysteries to you, but no longer mysteries to me.
My name is John Carter; I am better known as Captain Jack Carter of Virginia. At the close of the Civil War I found myself possessed of several hundred thousand dollars (Confederate) and a captain’s commission in the cavalry arm of an army which no longer existed; the servant of a state which had vanished with the hopes of the South. Masterless, penniless, and with my only means of livelihood, fighting, gone, I determined to work my way to the southwest and attempt to retrieve my fallen fortunes in a search for gold.
I spent nearly a year prospecting in company with another Confederate officer, Captain James K. Powell of Richmond. We were extremely fortunate, for late in the winter of 1865, after many hardships and privations, we located the most remarkable gold-bearing quartz vein that our wildest dreams had ever pictured. Powell, who was a mining engineer by education, stated that we had uncovered over a million dollars worth of ore in a trifle over three months.
As our equipment was crude in the extreme we decided that one of us must return to civilization, purchase the necessary machinery and return with a sufficient force of men properly to work the mine.
As Powell was familiar with the country, as well as with the mechanical requirements of mining we determined that it would be best for him to make the trip. It was agreed that I was to hold down our claim against the remote possibility of its being jumped by some wandering prospector.
On March 3, 1866, Powell and I packed his provisions on two of our burros, and bidding me good-bye he mounted his horse, and started down the mountainside toward the valley, across which led the first stage of his journey.
The morning of Powell’s departure was, like nearly all Arizona mornings, clear and beautiful; I could see him and his little pack animals picking their way down the mountainside toward the valley, and all during the morning I would catch occasional glimpses of them as they topped a hog back or came out upon a level plateau.
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