# Lieut. Gullivar Jones: His Vacation — Reference Document

**Edwin Lester Arnold** | 1905 | Mars fiction | Direct precursor to Burroughs' Barsoom

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## Full Text: Available

| Source | Location | Notes |
|--------|----------|-------|
| **Project Gutenberg** | [ebook #604](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/604) | Plain text, HTML, EPUB, Kindle. PG title: *Gulliver of Mars* (Ace reprint title). Original title noted in file. |
| **Local copy** | `/home/ari/dev/wget/arnold/pg604.txt` | ~7,370 lines; full novel plus PG boilerplate. |
| **LibriVox** | [Gulliver of Mars audiobook](https://librivox.org/search?title=Gulliver+of+Mars&author=Arnold) | Public domain read-aloud. |

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## Bibliographic

| Field | Value |
|-------|-------|
| **Original title** | *Lieut. Gullivar Jones: His Vacation* |
| **Alternate titles** | *Gulliver of Mars* (Ace 1964), *Gullivar of Mars* (Bison 2003) |
| **Author** | Edwin Lester Arnold (1857–1935) |
| **Publisher** | S.C. Brown, Langham & Co. (UK) |
| **Publication date** | 1905 |
| **Pages** | 301 (first ed.) |
| **Genre** | Fantasy, science fiction, planetary romance (pre–genre label) |

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## Author: Edwin Lester Arnold

- **Birth/death:** 1857–1935  
- **Father:** Sir Edwin Arnold, poet/journalist, author of *The Light of Asia* (1879) — popularization of Buddha in the West  
- **Travel:** Lived in Scandinavia, India, Ceylon; worked in coffee cultivation  
- **Other fiction:** *The Wonderful Adventures of Phra the Phoenician* (1890), *Lepidus the Centurion* (1901)  
- **Buddhist themes:** Rebirth, resurrection, reincarnation recur in his work  
- **Reception:** *Gullivar Jones* was poorly received; Arnold largely stopped writing fiction afterwards. The novel became his best-known work posthumously.

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## Plot Summary (from Wikipedia / PG)

US Navy lieutenant Gullivar Jones, frustrated and broke in New York, finds a dying man who fell from a magic carpet. He takes the carpet home; wishing to be on Mars, he is transported there. He meets:

- **Hither people** — languid, aesthetic, devoted to pleasure; city of Seth, canals, ruined architecture
- **Princess Heru** — betrothed to Prince Hath; Jones rescues her, intervenes in a ritual
- **Thither-folk** — warlike race under King Ar-hap; take Heru as tribute
- **River of the Dead** — one-way waterway carrying corpses to falls; necropolis of frozen dead
- **Queen Yang** — ruined, haunted city; Jones takes a crown from her skeleton

Jones pursues Heru, completes tasks for Ar-hap (ice valley circlet, Yang’s crown), escapes with her during a heat catastrophe, returns her to Seth, then uses the carpet to go back to Earth. He marries Polly, records the journey as a fantastical narrative.

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## Mars-Related Content (Disclosure Lens)

Per [mars-fiction-survey.md](mars-fiction-survey.md):

- **Humans on Mars:** Earth soldier transported to Mars; human-like Martians (Hither, Thither)
- **Pre-Burroughs:** 1905; predates *A Princess of Mars* (1912) by 7 years
- **Possible influence on Burroughs:** Richard A. Lupoff (*Edgar Rice Burroughs: Master of Adventure*, 1965) argues Arnold’s novel influenced Burroughs. Both use: veteran protagonist, magical/astral transport, Mars romance, princess rescue.
- **Genre role:** Important early planetary romance; bridges Wells/Lowell-era Mars fiction and pulp Barsoom.

### Elements to Index (for paradigm-threat survey)

- Magic carpet transport (vs Burroughs’ astral projection)
- Hither vs Thither — two Martian peoples, different cultures
- River of the Dead, necropolis, frozen corpses
- Ritual with crystal globe; Earth visible in Martian sky
- Slave caste (yellow-robed); ruling aesthetic elite
- Dying/decadent civilization (ruins, Seth)
- Heat catastrophe at climax

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## Adaptations & Appearances

| Medium | Title | Year | Notes |
|--------|-------|------|-------|
| Marvel Comics | *Gullivar Jones, Warrior of Mars* | 1972 | *Creatures on the Loose* #16–21; Roy Thomas, Gil Kane, Bill Everett; Jones as Vietnam veteran |
| Marvel | *Monsters Unleashed* | 1974 | #4, #8; Tony Isabella, David Cockrum, George Pérez |
| Alan Moore / Kevin O’Neill | *League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Vol. II* | 1999 | Gullivar and John Carter appear together |
| Jean-Marc Lofficier | *Edgar Allan Poe on Mars: The Further Memoirs of Gullivar Jones* | 2007 | Steampunk sequel |
| *Tales of the Shadowmen* | "Three Men, a Martian and a Baby" | — | Gullivar meets Doctor Omega |
| Dynamite | *Warriors of Mars* | 2012 | Crossover with Barsoom; Heru as Dejah Thoris’s mother |
| — | *Gullivar Jones and the Treasure of the Tsar* | 2023 | Jones + MI2, Fountain of Youth plot |

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## Sources & Links

- [Wikipedia: Lieut. Gullivar Jones: His Vacation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lieut._Gullivar_Jones:_His_Vacation)
- [Project Gutenberg: Gulliver of Mars](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/604)
- [ISFDB title entry](https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?1819361)
- [Speaker to Animals blog: Edwin Lester Arnold / Gullivar Jones](https://speakertoanimals.wordpress.com/2012/01/01/edwin-lester-arnold-lieut-gullivar-jones-his-vacation/)
- Lupoff, Richard A. (1965) *Edgar Rice Burroughs: Master of Adventure*
- Green, Roger Lancelyn (1976) "Introduction" to NEL SF Master Series edition
- Bleiler, Everett (1948) *The Checklist of Fantastic Literature*

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