Maiwa's Revenge; Or, The War of the Little Hand

Maiwa's Revenge begins with Allan Quatermain, Sir Henry Curtis, and Captain Good swapping African big game hunting stories, but Quatermain's yarn takes a serious turn when he relates joining a war between the tribes of Nala and Wambe to avenge the murder of Maiwa's infant son, and in order to rescue the kidnapped Englishman, John Every. MR was serialized in two-parts in the July and August 1888 numbers of Harper's Monthly Magazine. Ten illustrations by Thure de Thulstrup accompanied the Harper's serialization. Longmans, Green, and Co., London, published the first UK edition on 3 August 1888 under the title Maiwa's Revenge; or, The War of the Little Hand. Longmans issued 30,000 copies in this printing. Longmans, Green, and Co., New York and London, published the first illustrated edition in 1891 featuring eight full-page lithographs by Charles Kerr. For this print run Longmans issued 10,000 copies. Of these, half used a more expensive red cloth cover (sold for 2s. 6d.), and half used cheaper pictorial papers (sold for 2s). In 1923, Longmans, London, published a new edition which included a frontispiece by Maurice Greiffenhagen. Macdonald & Co., London, published an edition of MR illustrated by Hookway Cowles in 1965.

Further Reading

Haggard, H. Rider. The Days of My Life, An Autobiography. 2 Vols. London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1926. I: 280. Print.

Pocock, Tom. Rider Haggard and the Lost Empire. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1993. 76. Print.

Whatmore, D.E.. H Rider Haggard: A Bibliography. Westport, CT: Meckler Publishing Co., 1987. F7, 13-14. Print.