Do reprints get revised?

Looking for some diversion from the headlines, I wandered over to my pulp fiction shelves and decided to read my 1960 Ace edition of The Swordsman of Mars by Otis Adelbert Kline. The book was originally published in 1933. It looks like this:



On page 12, our hero, Harry Thorne, is being told why he in particular has been searched out to be asked to go on a mission to Mars. "You had a good war record in Korea, you've been on hunting expeditions in Africa, you've been in business. . . " I was on to the next paragraph already when suddenly there was a clattering in the back of my feeble mind. I thought . . . wait, Korea? The book was written in 1933.

So my question is, would it have been likely that that sentence got revised for the readers of 1960? Or was there some military action in Koriea I'm not aware of that an American (presumably, as Kline was American) might have taken part in in the late 1920s, or did Kline simply pick a country out of a hat to give Thorne a fictional "good war record"?

The 1960 edition is copyright by Ellen Kline, presumably Otis Kline's daughter or granddaughter. None of the brief biographies I've found on him mention anything about his personal life.

Any ideas? Really just curious.

Some books are revised for new editions - Ender's Game has had revisions for example.

The Swordsman of Mars is an interesting case because I think most of the book editions have been abridged in some way. I think the recent Paizo edition has had the original text restored which has increased the length substantially - see https://io9.gizmodo.com/pulp-classic-the-swordsman-of-mars-rescued-from-publish-... for a mention of this.

Huh. I have the same edition of the book, and I didn't catch that anomaly. I've just verified it in my copy.

Or was there some military action in Korea I'm not aware of that an American (presumably, as Kline was American) might have taken part in in the late 1920s ... ?

I don't see any basis for that here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korea_under_Japanese_rule

It seems like a trivial and pointless change to make in reissuing the book, which a) doesn't come off as 1960-contemporary anyhow, and b) was an entry in the sword-and-planet subgenre defined by Burroughs' planetary romances with late-19th-century protagonists.

By process of elimination, I incline toward Kline simply pick a country out of a hat to give Thorne a fictional "good war record."

Yes, reprints are often have content revised from the original.

I'm guessing the 1960 edition was referring to the Korean War in the 1950s.

>2 andyl: "I think most of the book editions have been abridged in some way."

My ACE copy, though, has the text "Complete & Unabridged" on the cover. But based on that article you linked to, it seems they were fibbing just a little, there.

>3 paradoxosalpha: " . . . which a) doesn't come off as 1960-contemporary anyhow . . . "

I guess I disagree. Again, the sentence is, "You had a good war record in Korea, you've been on hunting expeditions in Africa, you've been in business. . . " The order of those activities isn't specified, but I would tend to think of them as happening in the order the speaker presents them. So, if someone had fought in Korea, and then gone hunting at least twice in Africa, and then gone into business, 1960 would be just about right, I think.

>5 rocketjk:

When I said doesn't come off as 1960-contemporary anyhow, I meant the book as a whole, rather than the specific reference to a prior Korean military record.

>6 paradoxosalpha: Ah, I see. I was thinking, though, that somebody edited the text to make the character and his circumstances more "familiar" to the readers of that (1960) era. At any rate, I've now ordered the "original" text version described in the link that andyl posted. I will report back as to what the original wording of that sentence is. According to the information on that website, my Ace edition, despite the "Complete & Unabridged" claim on its cover, has chapters removed and passages rewritten. In the meantime, I'm setting aside my reading of "The Swordsman of Mars" until that copy shows up.

Thanks for all the responses.

>7 rocketjk: Nice! That's exactly what I hoped you'd do! Kudos!

Well, OK, everybody. My "original text" Planet Stories edition of The Swordsman of Mars has arrived, and goodness, is it ever different. As to the reference to Korea that sparked my original question, well, it is not in evidence here. In fact, the corresponding sentence, in the ACE edition spoken to Harry Thorne, is in the original spoken by him:

In the ACE edition we have, ""You had a good war record in Korea, you've been on hunting expeditions in Africa, you've been in business. . . "

In the original we read the doctor offering Thorne, who is contemplating suicide, an adventure say . . .

"Suppose you were offered a new interest in life. Excitement and adventures beyond your wildest dreams. A chance to view new scenes that no earthly being save one has ever glimpsed. To meet new and strange peoples."

"All that is old stuff to me," replied Thorne. "I've traveled until I'm sick of it. I've hunted big game in Asia, Africa and the Americas. I've been in every important country on the globe. The only adventure I have not tried is death, and just now it is the one adventure that intrigues me."

So, wholly different.

Michael Moorcock, in his introduction to the Planet Stories edition, says, "The only previous version of The Swordsman of Mars varies quite a bit from the magazine series (which is the better version and is reprinted here). Did Kline rewrite it or did Don Wollheim, senior editor of Ace Books, take it on himself to produce an altered version? Whatever the reasons, the original Argosy story is the only one to be published in Kline's lifetime and is therefore the definitive one. The opening of the book, for instance, is rich with the atmosphere of the Depression years, and perhaps that is why Wollheim decided to cut it in the affluent 1960s? (sic) . . . The paperback Wollheim published bears the familiar slogan 'Complete and Unabridged' (not by any means always the truth in those days) so I would be inclined to believe that the manuscript came from the Kline estate in that version, after its author or perhaps one of his heirs modified it for whatever reasons of their own--perhaps to obscure the original dates of its appearance. . . . "

So there you have it. Kind of cool in a way to think that whoever made those changes, including in particular a reference to the Korean War, was also putting in a small editorial booby trap to alert careful readers in 2020 that they are looking at an altered version!

Thanks for the follow-up! It also inspires interest in that Planet Stories effort.

So sorry for having gotten behind in your thread! Caught up now, and I'll try to stay that way.

Being a John Carter fan, I was particularly interested in The Swordsman of Mars. I'll try to get the magazine version, and I thank you all for the heads-up.