{"history":[],"article":{"id":"e016ed18-2b56-4473-aec0-22af292a0f2d","title":"Master of Adventure: The Worlds of Edgar Rice Burroughs","slug":"master-of-adventure-the-worlds-of-edgar-rice-burroughs","content":":::summary\n![Cover of the first edition, titled Edgar Rice Burroughs: Master of Adventure](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/Lupoff///master///of///adventure///1965.jpg)\n**Name:** Master of Adventure: The Worlds of Edgar Rice Burroughs \n**Title Orig:** Edgar Rice Burroughs: Master of Adventure \n**Author:** [Richard A. Lupoff](https://bliptext.com/articles/richard-a-lupoff) \n**Illustrator:** [Al Williamson](https://bliptext.com/articles/al-williamson), [Reed Crandall](https://bliptext.com/articles/reed-crandall), and [Frank Frazetta](https://bliptext.com/articles/frank-frazetta) \n**Cover Artist:** [Frank Frazetta](https://bliptext.com/articles/frank-frazetta) (2nd & 3rd eds.)
[Al Williamson](https://bliptext.com/articles/al-williamson) and [Reed Crandall](https://bliptext.com/articles/reed-crandall) (4th ed.) \n**Country:** U.S.A. \n**Language:** English \n**Publisher:** [Canaveral Press](https://bliptext.com/articles/canaveral-press) (1st ed.)
[Ace Books](https://bliptext.com/articles/ace-books) (2nd & 3rd eds.)
[Bison Books](https://bliptext.com/articles/bison-books) (4th ed.)
[SF Gateway](https://bliptext.com/articles/victor-gollancz-ltd) (ebook) \n**Release Date:** 1965 (1st ed.)
1968 (2nd ed.)
1975 (3rd ed.)
2005 (4th ed.)
2015 (ebook) \n**Pages:** 294 pp. (1st ed.)
315 pp. (2nd & 3rd eds.)
307 (4th ed.) \n**Isbn:** 0-8032-8030-0 \n**Isbn Note:** (4th ed.) \n:::\n\n# \n**Master of Adventure: The Worlds of [Edgar Rice Burroughs](https://bliptext.com/articles/edgar-rice-burroughs)** is a book by [Richard A. Lupoff](https://bliptext.com/articles/richard-a-lupoff) that explores the work of [Edgar Rice Burroughs](https://bliptext.com/articles/edgar-rice-burroughs), the creator of [Tarzan](https://bliptext.com/articles/tarzan) and author of numerous science-fiction, fantasy, and adventure novels.\nThe book is one of the few major works of criticism covering the work of Burroughs, and it helped create renewed interest in his work during the 1960s.\n\n# Publication history\nThe book was first published in hardcover by [Canaveral Press](https://bliptext.com/articles/canaveral-press) in 1965 under the title Edgar Rice Burroughs: Master of Adventure.\nIt includes a preface by [Henry Hardy Heins](https://bliptext.com/articles/henry-hardy-heins) and 12 black-and-white illustrations, including four by [Al Williamson](https://bliptext.com/articles/al-williamson) and [Reed Crandall](https://bliptext.com/articles/reed-crandall), two by Crandall alone, and six by [Frank Frazetta](https://bliptext.com/articles/frank-frazetta); these materials appear in all four print editions.\nA revised and enlarged second edition with a new introduction by the author was published in paperback by [Ace Books](https://bliptext.com/articles/ace-books) in 1968.\nIt featured cover art by Frank Frazetta recycled from the publisher's earlier edition of Burroughs's [The Beasts of Tarzan](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-beasts-of-tarzan)\nA third \"centennial\" edition, adding a new introduction by the author and also in paperback, followed, also from Ace, in 1975.\nIt also featured cover art by Frazetta, in this instance a new work.\nA fourth edition, again revised and enlarged with new content, was published as a trade paperback by [Bison Books](https://bliptext.com/articles/bison-books) in 2005.\nFor this edition, the work was retitled Master of Adventure: The Worlds of Edgar Rice Burroughs.\nNew content includes a foreword by fantasy author [Michael Moorcock](https://bliptext.com/articles/michael-moorcock), an admirer of Burroughs's work, a new foreword by the author, and an essay by Phillip R. Burger, a consultant to Burroughs.\nThe cover illustration was a colorized version of the frontispiece common to all the print editions, \"Edgar Rice Burroughs and His Most Famous Creations\" by Al Williamson and Reed Crandall.\nAn [ebook](https://bliptext.com/articles/e-book) of the centennial (third) edition retaining the original title was published by [Gollancz's SF Gateway](https://bliptext.com/articles/victor-gollancz-ltd) imprint in 2015.\n# [Cover of second (1st Ace Books) edition, 1968 | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/Lupoff///master///of///adventure///1968.jpg]\n# [Cover of fourth (Bison Books) edition, 2005 | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/Master///of///adventure///lupoff.JPG]\n\n# Content\nAfter a brief survey of Burroughs's life prior to his literary career, the book discusses his writings in two broad sequences, the first devoted to his main body of work aside from that devoted to Tarzan, and the second specifically to the Tarzan books.\nTreatment in each sequence is broadly chronological, but with groups of related works treated topically.\nFor instance, chapters 3, 5, and 9 are devoted to Burroughs's [Mars](https://bliptext.com/articles/barsoom) series, chapters 4 and 6 to his [Pellucidar](https://bliptext.com/articles/pellucidar) series, chapter 7 to [The Land that Time Forgot](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-land-that-time-forgot-novel) and [The Moon Maid](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-moon-maid), which Lupoff considers some of Burroughs's masterworks, and chapter 10 to the [Venus](https://bliptext.com/articles/amtor) series, with miscellaneous works covered primarily in chapters 4, 8, and 11.\nThe Tarzan chapters cover the ape-man's early, middle, and late adventures (in chapters 12-14, 16, and 17, respectively), interspersed with material on the character's literary antecedents (chapter 15) and descendants (chapter 18).\nTwo additional chapters round out the work by assembling a recommended reading list of essential Burroughs novels (chapter 19), notable for its placement of the relatively obscure Burroughs novels [The War Chief](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-war-chief-novel) and [The Mucker](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-mucker-novel) at third and fourth place, respectively, and surveying works not published during Burroughs's lifetime (chapter 20), many of which remained unpublished at the time Lupoff initially wrote.\n(Almost all have since been printed).\nThe book includes outlines for all of Burroughs's major novels, and covers several aspects of his body of work, including influences upon his work, works influenced by Burroughs, and later works by Burroughs that never came to fruition due to his service in [World War II](https://bliptext.com/articles/world-war-ii) as a war correspondent and declining health later in life.\n\n# Table of Contents\n\n# Reception\nWhile the response to the book has been generally favorable, it remains controversial among some Burroughs aficionados, particularly for Lupoff's argument that the Barsoom series was heavily influenced by [Lieut. Gullivar Jones: His Vacation](https://bliptext.com/articles/lieut-gullivar-jones-his-vacation) (1905) and [The Wonderful Adventures of Phra the Phoenician](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-wonderful-adventures-of-phra-the-phoenician) (1890) by [Edwin L. Arnold](https://bliptext.com/articles/edwin-lester-arnold).","current_revision":null,"created_by":"kACnuQmH5k9Nr5VNVEpVeg7XpvUmMctD","created_at":"2025-01-26T10:54:50.908Z","updated_at":"2025-01-26T10:54:50.908Z","search_vector":"'adventur':3 'burrough':9 'edgar':7 'master':1 'rice':8 'world':5","search_content":" \n \n**Name:** Master of Adventure: The Worlds of Edgar Rice Burroughs \n**Title Orig:** Edgar Rice Burroughs: Master of Adventure \n**Author:** [Richard A. Lupoff](https://bliptext.com/articles/richard-a-lupoff) \n**Illustrator:** [Al Williamson](https://bliptext.com/articles/al-williamson), [Reed Crandall](https://bliptext.com/articles/reed-crandall), and [Frank Frazetta](https://bliptext.com/articles/frank-frazetta) \n**Cover Artist:** [Frank Frazetta](https://bliptext.com/articles/frank-frazetta) (2nd & 3rd eds.) [Al Williamson](https://bliptext.com/articles/al-williamson) and [Reed Crandall](https://bliptext.com/articles/reed-crandall) (4th ed.) \n**Country:** U.S.A. \n**Language:** English \n**Publisher:** [Canaveral Press](https://bliptext.com/articles/canaveral-press) (1st ed.) [Ace Books](https://bliptext.com/articles/ace-books) (2nd & 3rd eds.) [Bison Books](https://bliptext.com/articles/bison-books) (4th ed.) [SF Gateway](https://bliptext.com/articles/victor-gollancz-ltd) (ebook) \n**Release Date:** 1965 (1st ed.) 1968 (2nd ed.) 1975 (3rd ed.) 2005 (4th ed.) 2015 (ebook) \n**Pages:** 294 pp. (1st ed.) 315 pp. (2nd & 3rd eds.) 307 (4th ed.) \n**Isbn:** 0-8032-8030-0 \n**Isbn Note:** (4th ed.) \n \n\n# \n**Master of Adventure: The Worlds of [Edgar Rice Burroughs](https://bliptext.com/articles/edgar-rice-burroughs)** is a book by [Richard A. Lupoff](https://bliptext.com/articles/richard-a-lupoff) that explores the work of [Edgar Rice Burroughs](https://bliptext.com/articles/edgar-rice-burroughs), the creator of [Tarzan](https://bliptext.com/articles/tarzan) and author of numerous science-fiction, fantasy, and adventure novels.\nThe book is one of the few major works of criticism covering the work of Burroughs, and it helped create renewed interest in his work during the 1960s.\n\n# Publication history\nThe book was first published in hardcover by [Canaveral Press](https://bliptext.com/articles/canaveral-press) in 1965 under the title Edgar Rice Burroughs: Master of Adventure.\nIt includes a preface by [Henry Hardy Heins](https://bliptext.com/articles/henry-hardy-heins) and 12 black-and-white illustrations, including four by [Al Williamson](https://bliptext.com/articles/al-williamson) and [Reed Crandall](https://bliptext.com/articles/reed-crandall), two by Crandall alone, and six by [Frank Frazetta](https://bliptext.com/articles/frank-frazetta); these materials appear in all four print editions.\nA revised and enlarged second edition with a new introduction by the author was published in paperback by [Ace Books](https://bliptext.com/articles/ace-books) in 1968.\nIt featured cover art by Frank Frazetta recycled from the publisher's earlier edition of Burroughs's [The Beasts of Tarzan](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-beasts-of-tarzan)\nA third \"centennial\" edition, adding a new introduction by the author and also in paperback, followed, also from Ace, in 1975.\nIt also featured cover art by Frazetta, in this instance a new work.\nA fourth edition, again revised and enlarged with new content, was published as a trade paperback by [Bison Books](https://bliptext.com/articles/bison-books) in 2005.\nFor this edition, the work was retitled Master of Adventure: The Worlds of Edgar Rice Burroughs.\nNew content includes a foreword by fantasy author [Michael Moorcock](https://bliptext.com/articles/michael-moorcock), an admirer of Burroughs's work, a new foreword by the author, and an essay by Phillip R. Burger, a consultant to Burroughs.\nThe cover illustration was a colorized version of the frontispiece common to all the print editions, \"Edgar Rice Burroughs and His Most Famous Creations\" by Al Williamson and Reed Crandall.\nAn [ebook](https://bliptext.com/articles/e-book) of the centennial (third) edition retaining the original title was published by [Gollancz's SF Gateway](https://bliptext.com/articles/victor-gollancz-ltd) imprint in 2015.\n# [Cover of second (1st Ace Books) edition, 1968 | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/Lupoff///master///of///adventure///1968.jpg]\n# [Cover of fourth (Bison Books) edition, 2005 | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/Master///of///adventure///lupoff.JPG]\n\n# Content\nAfter a brief survey of Burroughs's life prior to his literary career, the book discusses his writings in two broad sequences, the first devoted to his main body of work aside from that devoted to Tarzan, and the second specifically to the Tarzan books.\nTreatment in each sequence is broadly chronological, but with groups of related works treated topically.\nFor instance, chapters 3, 5, and 9 are devoted to Burroughs's [Mars](https://bliptext.com/articles/barsoom) series, chapters 4 and 6 to his [Pellucidar](https://bliptext.com/articles/pellucidar) series, chapter 7 to [The Land that Time Forgot](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-land-that-time-forgot-novel) and [The Moon Maid](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-moon-maid), which Lupoff considers some of Burroughs's masterworks, and chapter 10 to the [Venus](https://bliptext.com/articles/amtor) series, with miscellaneous works covered primarily in chapters 4, 8, and 11.\nThe Tarzan chapters cover the ape-man's early, middle, and late adventures (in chapters 12-14, 16, and 17, respectively), interspersed with material on the character's literary antecedents (chapter 15) and descendants (chapter 18).\nTwo additional chapters round out the work by assembling a recommended reading list of essential Burroughs novels (chapter 19), notable for its placement of the relatively obscure Burroughs novels [The War Chief](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-war-chief-novel) and [The Mucker](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-mucker-novel) at third and fourth place, respectively, and surveying works not published during Burroughs's lifetime (chapter 20), many of which remained unpublished at the time Lupoff initially wrote.\n(Almost all have since been printed).\nThe book includes outlines for all of Burroughs's major novels, and covers several aspects of his body of work, including influences upon his work, works influenced by Burroughs, and later works by Burroughs that never came to fruition due to his service in [World War II](https://bliptext.com/articles/world-war-ii) as a war correspondent and declining health later in life.\n\n# Table of Contents\n\n# Reception\nWhile the response to the book has been generally favorable, it remains controversial among some Burroughs aficionados, particularly for Lupoff's argument that the Barsoom series was heavily influenced by [Lieut. Gullivar Jones: His Vacation](https://bliptext.com/articles/lieut-gullivar-jones-his-vacation) (1905) and [The Wonderful Adventures of Phra the Phoenician](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-wonderful-adventures-of-phra-the-phoenician) (1890) by [Edwin L. Arnold](https://bliptext.com/articles/edwin-lester-arnold).","revisionCount":0},"hasMore":false,"nextCursor":null}

History