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Look for the new and improved website coming soon!
This website dedicated to Danton Burroughs. A brief statement
from John and Katie at Phantom Bookshop:
This humble little web site
(there are better sites on the subject, but this one was created out of my love
for John Carter of Mars
and everything else Burroughsian, as my busy working
schedule permits) is dedicated eternally to
Danton Burroughs, friend, and
friend of Phantom Bookshop in Ventura, CA. and a friend to all who love the work
of Edgar Rice Burroughs.
You were a good man and a truly great guy with a big heart who even had a castle
to share with us.
You will live on forever, like John Carter and Tarzan, in my heart
as well as Katie's.
You have left a huge black void that can never be filled, but memories of you and
your smiling face and humor help my sadness,
and yes, anger at being taken away from us so soon. My eyes are in tears as I write
this..
..God Bless You, Danton!
Until we meet on Barsoom....someday.
Peace and Love.
Updated: April 14, 2009.
From Bruce Grimes of Design
Concepts in England,
some incredible sketches from the 1970
film first film version which was never made.
You will love these! Thank you, Bruce.
Welcome to
our home
page for Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter of Mars, sponsored by
Phantom Bookshop, professional booksellers since 1978, specializing in the works
of Edgar Rice Burroughs, as well as other used, rare and out-of-print books.
The purpose of this web site is to honour and create awareness of a literary
genius' creation and character which has found its place in the permanent mythos
of the American annals of fantastic literature. They are the creation of one
man, Edgar Rice Burroughs and they are Barsoom (Mars) and John Carter of Mars,
hero. The Mars of Edgar Rice Burroughs and the creation of its characters have
laid the foundation for the multitudes of science fiction and fantasy authors that
followed, as well as the major filmmakers in the genre. They all owe homage to this
man, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and especially to his creation of John Carter and the
Martian Mythos.
 |
I have had a love affair with John Carter of Mars for over 35 years. As a
professional book seller, operating since 1978, we at Phantom Bookshop in
Ventura, California, have a large inventory of Edgar Rice Burroughs novels, and
strive to keep a good stock of the Mars books on hand.
Together we will
take a journey to the Planet Mars and the incredible adventures of John Carter,
the American, who goes to sleep in a mysterious cave in the Arizona desert and
wakes up on the planet Mars. While there he meets with many incredible
adventures and weird and bazaar Martian creatures.
You may phone us at 805-641-3844 if you are seeking a particular John Carter
of Mars title or go to our searchable book database located at our home page Phantoms.com.
We will be adding many new things to the site soon, so please check back
often.
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| Front cover of 1st edition dust jacket by
St.John from collection of Phantom Bookshop. This
particular copy was Hulbert Burroughs' own copy with his name, address
and date of the verso of the dust jacket.) |
Thank
you very much,
John Anthony Miller |
From the rear jacket panel of the first edition book The Princess of
Mars (see dust jacket cover above) the following, and thus
starting the saga of Captain John Carter, Warlord of Mars, Prince of Helium:
| Think,
of battling for a woman, beautiful as a houri, with Green Men of Mars,
creatures fifteen feet high, limbs which will function either as legs or
arms, of horses like dragons, and watchdogs like enormous frogs with,
with ten legs. These are some of the extraordinary creatures of Mars.
Only the man who created Tarzan, the Ape Man, could write so bold a
story. |
 |
| First
edition book courtesy of Phantom Bookshop |
From the dust jacket panel of the first edition of the second "Mars
Book,"
The Gods of Mars:
| In
this book, continuing the stirring adventures narrated in A Princess
of Mars, sturdy John Carter of Virginia finds himself once more upon
the strange planet forty-three million miles from earth. How he recovers
his wife and son; how he fights the great white apes and the "plant
men," ferocious creatures with sucking mouths in the palms of their
hands, and whose mighty tales swish their victims to instant death: and
how he defies even Issus herself, terrible Goddess of Death, whom all
Mars worships and reveres, are among the gripping episodes described in
this second daring narrative of adventures on the dying planet of
Barsoom.
The author, pastmaster creator of tales extraordinary, has here given
a new story written with all the inimitable vigor and marvelous imagination which have made his famous "Tarzan" stories the
delight of countless admirers.
|
 |
| First
edition book courtesy of the Phantom Bookshop |
From the dust jacket panel of the first edition of the third "Mars
Book,"
The Warlord of Mars:
| A
continuation of the wonderful adventures of John Carter of Virginia on
the mysterious red planet. The story is full of thrilling situations and
the reader is taken breathlessly from one exciting adventure to another.
There are desperate encounters with ferocious banths and other horrible
creatures. Old acquaintances reappear, Tars Tarkas, Tardos Mors and
others of the Jeddaks and we meet again the faithful Woola, ever ready
in defense of John Carter. There is a happy ending to the story in the
union of the Warlord, and title conferred upon John Carter because of
his desparate valor, with Dejah Thoris. |
 |
| First
edition book courtesy of the Phantom Bookshop |
The debate over just how John Carter got to the planet Mars has never
been
resolved. Was it a dream -- or an "out-of-body" experience? Astral
projection or teleportation? Perhaps a parallel universe bending in on itself
reflecting Einstein and Maxwellian physics? Wellian time travel to the future?
Maybe all of the above...
NOTE: From Chris, by e-mail, some word about
John Carter, on March 3, 2008, I stand corrected. John Carter certainly was no
chicken or coward....far far from that. Thank you for the correction Chris, John
Anthony Miller.
'When
the Civil War broke out he disappeared and went to Arizona to prospect and was
very successful and eventually lived in New York.
'This quote is from your description of John Carter of
Mars as described in A Princess of Mars, but it is wrong. From
the book, John Carter found himself at the end of the civil war with several
hundred thousand worthless confederate dollars and went out to find his
fortune in Arizona. The description quoted above makes him look like he
was hiding and chickening out of the civil war.'
I
Who is John Carter of Mars? Based on information from
the first edition of A Princess of Mars
 | Captain John Carter is the chief hero of the Mars books of Edgar Rice
Burroughs. In the first book "The Princess of Mars," Edgar Rice
Burroughs states that he personally knew him as "Uncle Jack" and
that he frequently visited his father's home in Virginia, just prior to the
beginning of the American Civil War. He seemed to have a good sense of
humor and was always laughing, and engaged in sports with young and old with
the same enthusiasm. He also was a world traveler and liked to tell stories
of his adventures. He was well loved, even by the slaves in Edgar Rice
Burroughs' father's fictional home in Virginia.
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| John Carter was athletic, tall, dark and smooth-faced. He was a fine
example of manhood and stood six feet two inches tall, and had the carriage
of trained fighting man. He had broad shoulders and narrow hips. He had an
interesting face with regular and clear cut features and closely cropped
black hair. His eyes were steel gray and showed a strong and loyal character
with fire and resolve. John Carter had perfect manners and the courtliness
of a southern gentleman highly refined. He was also an excellent horseman
and was a "reckless" master of the equine.
|
| John Carter apparently never aged and appeared suddenly to Edgar Rice
Burroughs 16 years later, with a somewhat preoccupied vision of life. When
the Civil War broke out he disappeared and went to Arizona to prospect and
was very successful and eventually lived in New York. Captain Carter
left his entire estate and writings (of his strange life) to Edgar Rice
Burroughs. He was often seen standing in the moonlight with his arms
outstretched to the heavens in some kind of "appeal."
|
| On the morning of March 4, 1886, Captain Carter was found dead by the
local watchman and the police chief and several other locals assembled in
his study. The body was found, still warm, with his arms outstretched
in the snow at full length, and the location was the one that John Carter
was seen previously with his outstretched arms in supplication to the
heavens. The cause of death was determined to be heart failure, according to
the coroner.
|
| According to the instructions left to Edgar Rice Burroughs by Captain
Carter, his body was to be removed to Virginia without embalming, and was to
be laid in an open coffin within a tomb which was previously constructed by
John Carter. Further instructions were that Mr. Burroughs was to receive the
entire income from his property for 25 years. Additional instructions were
that the manuscript (of "The Princess of Mars") was to remain
sealed and unread for 11 years, and that the contents were not to be divulged
until 21 years after his death. The body laid in the tomb for many
years, but its massive door was equipped with a single, huge gold-plated
spring lock which could only be opened from the inside...
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| More on John Carter of Mars |
Dejah Thoris of Mars
From H. Keith Burns, author and publisher-
|
Mr. Phantom,
Thank you for coming to the rescue of all of us
Carterians! Finally,
someone has brought Edgar Rice Burroughs great fictional adventure
character to the Internet. I have always enjoyed reading and watching
Burroughs' most famous creation--Tarzan--at work. From
Weissmuller to Brix (Bruce Bennett) to Barker to Miller to Mahoney to
Lambert to Disney Animation. While I was always a fan of the vine
swinger, it was Burroughs' other adventure hero--John Carter--who I
really loved. Mars, the Red Planet, and all that single word conveys
to those of use ready to don our own spacesuits and follow the Mars
Rover around that red-dusty orb!
John Carter of Mars--The Princess of Mars--The
Warlord of Mars--and all the rest of the saga have been my
reading joys for over 40 years! I've had a crush on JC's wife, Dejah
Thoris, my entire life. Why haven't there been sightings of gals like
her at Roswell and other UFO crash sites? Boy, that would've gotten
the military out there with polished boots.
Anyway, Thanks to the Phantom Bookshop for
finally putting John Carter on the web for his many fans all over the
world. It is hard to imagine anyone
attempting another site devoted to this great fictional hero. When the
computer world gets a big more powerful, maybe you could get celebrity
readers to tell the tales to an entire new generation of Carterians
all
around the globe! I bet Edgar Rice Burroughs would enjoy that
wonderful day!
Keep up the great work and I'll see you on Barsoom
very soon!!!!
John Carter fanatic and co-author of Graven
Images, the definitive pictorial record of Sci-Fi, Fantasy and
Horror film poster art that was ever published.
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