THUVIA, MAID OF MARS & THE CHESSMEN OF MARS by Burroughs, Edgar Rice - 1972

Garden City: Nelson Doubleday, Inc., 1972. Hardcover. Fine/Very Good. Frank Frazetta. The fourth anf fifth novels of Burroughs' science fiction-fantasy series featuring John Carter of Mars and his descendants joined in a single book. In "Thuvia, Maid of Mars," Carthoris, son of the legendary John Carter, is accused of abducting Princess Thuvia and must battle a horde of diabolical enemies to rescue the woman he loves and clear his name. "The Chessmen of Mars" is the story of Prince Gahan, who braves all the dangers of Mars searching for John Carter's lost daughter, Tara, to discover she is the prize in a game of Martian chess, played with living pieces and played to the death. First printing, first Science Fiction Book Club edition, (originally issued separately in 1916 and 1922) with dustjacket painting and text illustrations by Frank Frazetta, one of the foremost sci-fi cover artists. About 5 3/8 x 8 1/2 inches, 341 pages in dark-green, paper-covered boards with gold lettering on spine. Frazetta's wrap-around cover painting on the dj shows muscular man with a sword protecting a scantily-clad woman from the attack of a huge Martian lion. Boards and text show only a touch of shelf wear to bottom board edges and very light soiling to top edge of text. Complete, clean and unmarked. No bumping, tearing, scratching or other significant flaws. Dustjacket shows light wear at spine ends, with tiny, quarter-inch tear at top of spine. O/w no tearing, creasing or clipped corners. A very decent copy of the Science Fiction Club edition of two of the best stories from Burroughs' John Carter series, which is the equal of his Tarzan of the Apes novels.