Swords of Mars

First Edition Identifiers

This book was published on Feb. 15, 1936 by Burroughs, Inc. Although the boards are blue, it is not the same blue cloth as most of the other Burroughs, Inc. publications. The color is more of a navy blue and the cloth is smooth, not pebbled. The lettering is reddish orange. The copyright page has the words “first edition” on it. The dust jacket and five interior illustrations were by J. Allen St. John. There are two states of the dust jacket, one is laminated and the other is unlaminated.

In this book Edgar Rice Burroughs put a hidden message to his 2nd wife. The message can be found by looking at the first letter of every chapter. When combined the message reads “To Florence with all my love Ed.”

This book was again printed in 1940 and 1948. The 1940 book has red cloth covers with blue lettering. The 1948 printing has tan covers and dark brown lettering.

Photographs

Above is the first edition dust jacket. I would grade it a “Good” to “Good Plus” jacket. There is considerable damp staining to the lower half of the book and small edge tears. Note — the dust jacket has a protective plastic cover over it.