Barsoom

What a delight Edgar Rice Burroughs books were to me as a boy. The writing helped define the term 'high adventure'. But the package that they came in, in my generation as the Ace editions with cover and frontis art by Krenkel and Frazetta, was like a treasure discovered in some exotic library.

Searching for each title in dusty bookstores was like a quest, and actually finding an edition was like Howard Carter opening Tut's tomb.

I remember especially reading these Barsoom Ace editions when I was ill with the flu, about the age of 14. The writing blended with fever delirium, creating  haunting visions of an exotic world where anything could happen. And I would refer to the artwork every other chapter just to remind myself how beautiful the visions were.

I was especially enamored of the Mars series more than Tarzan and the others, and the Ace editions had Krenkel masterminding those, as a loving tribute to his memories and visions passed down from J. Allen St. John.

Krenkel's pen and ink transcended time and space, as did Burroughs' writiing.

I know this is La of Opar (what a wonderful name), but I have always associated it with how I pictured Dejah Thoris (another wonderfully delirious name).

Even the typography for the Ace editions added spice to the exotic flavor. I think that the title font is some form of Mephistopheles, a very fitting type design for Burroughs.

A few pen strokes created a world for me.