"Swords of Mars" by Edgar Rice Burroughs

This one arrived in the mail today. By Michael Whelan, it's the prelim for his Del Rey cover to the John Carter of Mars novel, "Swords of Mars" by Edgar Rice Burroughs. It's similar in size (12" x 9") to his prelim for "A Fighting Man of Mars" which I posted last December. Unlike that one, this one doesn't have a note on the back by Lester Del Rey making suggestions. What it does have, however, is a small black and white illustration of a Masena from the novel, which I'll post here as well. The prelim is very similar to the finished painting, though for the actual book cover, our heroine is no longer topless.