The Publication History
"She:" A History of Adventure was H. Rider Haggard's second best-seller, his first, King Solomon's Mines, also published serially in The Graphic (1885), featuring the action-hero Allan Quartermain. First printed in a series of installments for the folio-sized illustrated magazine The Graphic in the autumn and winter of 1886-87, "She" was one of the first pieces of serial literature to reach a large British readership. Narrated in the first person by the protagonist, the rather peculiar-looking Horace Holly, the adventure story concerns his expedition with his friend’s son, Leo Vincey, to a long-forgotten African kingdom. Making their way through the dense jungle in the African interior, Leo and Horace (easily distinguished in every illustration) discover a lost civilization ruled by a mysterious queen, Ayesha, who appears to be white. Ayesha is hailed simply as “She,” stemming from the natives’ oft-repeated mantra — a periphrasis that conveniently avoids her taboo name — “She-who-must-be-obeyed.” In this adventure story, Rider Haggard inaugurates the archetype of the “lost world” novel, a subgenre of action-adventure fiction copied by such later popular writers as H. G. Wells.
Publication of She in The Graphic and in Volume
"She:" A History of Adventure was first published as a weekly serial story in The Graphic, a large folio magazine printed in London, between 2 October 1886 and 8 January 1887. The serialisation was accompanied by the fifteen large-scale composite woodblock illustrations of Edward Killingworth Johnson. Since British and American copyright regimes would remain distinct for another decade, a separate American edition was published by Harper & Bros. in New York on 24 December 1886; surprisingly, this volume included Johnson's illustrations. On 1 January 1887 a British edition was published by Longmans, Green, & Co., without any illustrations. It featured some significant textual revisions by Haggard that toned down the violence of the original serial text. He made further revisions for the British edition of 1888, which included a new series of volume-appropriate, smaller wood-engravings by Maurice Greiffenhagen and C. H. M. Kerr.
List of Illustrations
| Part | Date | Chapter | Title of Illustration | Page in Magazine | Format |
| 2 October | "Introduction." Chapter One, “My Visitor” | A tall man of about thirty, with the remains of great personal beauty, came hurrying in, staggering beneath the weight of a massive iron box | p. 365 | vertical | |
| 9 October | Chapter 2: "The Years Roll By" | “At last the lock yielded, and the casket stood open before us.” | p. 389 | horizontal | |
| 16 October | Chapter 4: "The Squall." | “The top of the peak, which was about eighty feet by one hundred and fifty thick at its base, was shaped like a negro’s head and face.” | p. 417 | horizontal | |
| 23 October | Chapter 6: "An Early Christian Ceremony." | “I drew my revolver, and fired it by a sort of instinct straight at the diabolical woman who had been caressing Mahommed.” | p. 441 | horizontal | 30 October | Chapter 8: "The Feast and After!" (Continued) | “I took tis cold fragment of mortality in my hand, and looked at it in the light of the lamp with feelings which I cannot describe.” | p. 469 | vertical |
| 6 November | Chapter 10: "Speculations." | “Behold the House of She-who-must-be-obeyed,” said Billali. “Had ever such a queen such a throne before?” “It is wonderful, my father,” I answered. | p. 497 | horizontal | |
| 13 November | Chapter 12: "Ayesha Unveils." | “The hand grasped the curtain, and drew it aside.” | p. 521 | horizontal | |
| 20 November | Chapter 14: "A Soul in Hell." | “When the lamps were held up I saw that it was nothing but one vast charnel-house.” | p. 549 | vertical | |
| 27 November | Chapter 16 (continued) | “Next second her tall and willowy form was staggering back across the room.” | p. 577 | horizontal | |
| 4 December | Chapter 18: "Go, Woman!" | “Even now, mayhap, She hears us.” | p. 605 | vertical | |
| 11 December | Chapter 20: "Triumph" | “As we were returning Billali met us.” | p. 635 | horizontal | |
| 18 December | Chapter 22 (continued) | “'It is safe,' she called.” | p. 661 | vertical | |
| 25 December | Chapter 24 (continued) | “Ayesha turned towards it, and stretched her arms to greet it.” | p. 685 | horizontal | |
| 1 January 1887 | Chapter 26 (continued) | “Next instant I felt Leo seize me by the right wrist with both hands.” | Vol. XXXV, p. 17 | vertical |
Bibliography
Haggard. H. Rider. She: A History of Adventure. Illustrated by E. K. Johnson. The Graphic Magazine, Vols. XXXIV and XXXV. 2 October 1886 to 8 January 1887.
Haggard. H. Rider. She: A History of Adventure. Illustrated by E. K. Johnson. New York: Harper & Bros., 1887.
Haggard, H. Rider. She: A History of Adventure. Illustrated by Maurice Greiffenhagen and Charles H. M. Kerr. London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1888.
"Johnson, Edward Killingworth." Haynes Fine Art. Web. Accessed 8 April 2025. https://www.haynesfineart.com/artists/edward-killingworth-johnson-uk
Created 13 April 2025