Edwin Lester Arnold
Edwin Lester Arnold was an English author born in 1857, known for his contributions to both fiction and journalism. He was the son of Sir Edwin Arnold, a prominent poet and orientalist, and spent much of his early life in India before returning to England to pursue studies in agriculture and ornithology. Arnold's literary career began in journalism, but he transitioned to fiction with his first novel, *The Wonderful Adventures of Phra the Phoenician*, published in 1890. This work features a character who hibernates through critical moments in British history.
Arnold's most recognized novel, *Gullivar of Mars*, originally titled *Lieut. Gullivar Jones: His Vacation*, follows an American naval officer's fantastical adventures on Mars, drawing inspiration from contemporary astronomical theories and literary influences such as Jonathan Swift and H.G. Wells. Although his works received mixed feedback during his lifetime and he ceased writing long fiction later on, Arnold continued contributing to various periodicals. His novels saw a revival starting in the 1960s, particularly *Gullivar of Mars*, which has since inspired comic adaptations and continued to capture the interest of new audiences. Arnold passed away in 1935 in London, leaving behind a legacy that has influenced subsequent science fiction authors.
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Edwin Lester Arnold
Author
- Born: January 30, 1905
- Birthplace: Swanscombe, Kent, England
- Died: March 1, 1935
- Place of death: London, England
Biography
Edwin Lester Linden Arnold was born in Swanscombe, Kent, England, in 1857. He was the eldest son of Katharine Biddulph Arnold and Sir Edwin Arnold, a noted nineteenth century poet, journalist, and orientalist. The younger Arnold spent most of childhood in India but returned to England to study agriculture and ornithology at Cheltenham College. After graduation he tried breeding cattle in Scotland and working as a forester in India before becoming a journalist in 1883. He wrote three nonfiction books before he took up fiction.
His first novel, The Wonderful Adventures of Phra the Phoenician, was published in 1890. The title character is a merchant who travels to the British Isles just before Julius Caesar’s invasion and periodically hibernates, only to awaken at critical points in British history. The book was serialized in twenty-four installments in the Illustrated London News before being published in book form in both Great Britain and the United States.
Arnold’s last novel, for which he is best known today, was Gullivar of Mars , originally titled Lieut. Gullivar Jones: His Vacation The title character, Gullivar Jones, is an American naval officer who flies to Mars on a magic carpet and has adventures there. Arnold’s physical description of Mars is based on the theories of astronomerPercival Lowell, who popularized the idea of canals on the planet. The book also was influenced by Jonathan Swift, but Arnold’s depiction of Martian society owes much to The Time Machine by H. G. Wells. The book received a mixed reception and was not published in the United States during Arnold’s lifetime. Some scholars believe Arnold’s books influenced Edgar Rice Burroughs’s John Carter of Mars series.
Arnold eventually stopped writing long fiction but continued to contribute articles and stories to periodicals such as Badminton Magazine, The Boy’s Own Paper, and Cavalier. He died on March 1, 1935, in London. Although Phra the Phoenician was reprinted in 1945, the real revival of Arnold’s work began in 1965 with the Ace paperback edition of Gullivar of Mars. This edition featured a cover illustration by Frank Frazetta, who also illustrated the covers of Ace’s reprints of Burroughs’ novels, and an introduction by Richard Lupoff. At the time of the book’s publication, Lupoff was editing reprints of Burroughs’s books and he argued in favor of the Arnold-Burroughs connection in his introduction to Gullivar of Mars and in two books about Burroughs. Now in the public domain, Gullivar Jones has taken on a life of his own. He was featured in the comic books “Creatures on the Loose” (1972) and “Monsters Unleashed” (1974), published by Marvel, and is a secondary character in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen graphic novel series.