IF YOU THINK that this book appears to be thicker and contain more wordsthan you found in the first published edition of Stranger in a Strange Land,your observation is correct. This edition is the original one-the way RobertHeinlein first conceived it, and put it down on paper.

　　The earlier edition contained a few words over 160,000, while this one runsaround 220,000 words. Robert’s manuscript copy usually contained about250 to 300 words per page, depending on the amount of dialogue on thepages. So, taking an average of about 275 words, with the manuscriptrunning 800 pages, we get a total of 220,000 words, perhaps a bit more.

　　This book was so different from what was being sold to the general public, orto the science fiction reading public in 1961 when it was published, that theeditors required some cutting and removal of a few scenes that might thenhave been offensive to public taste.

　　The November 1948 issue of Astounding Science Fiction contained a letter tothe editor suggesting titles for the issue of a year hence. Among the titleswas to be a story by Robert A. Heinlein-.Gulf.“In a long conversation between that editor, John W. Campbell, Jr., andRobert, it was decided that there would be sufficient lead time to allow all thestories that the fan had titled to be written, and the magazine to come out intime for the November 1949 date. Robert promised to deliver a short story togo with the title. Most of the other authors also went along with the gag. Thisissue came to be known as the .Time Travel“ issue.

　　Robert’s problem, then, was to find a story to fit the title assigned to him.

　　So we held a .brainstorming“ session. Among other unsuitable notions, Isuggested a story about a human infant, raised by an alien race. The ideawas just too big for a short story, Robert said, but he made a note about it.

　　That night he went into his study, and wrote some lengthy notes, and setthem aside.

　　For the title .Gulf“ he wrote quite a different story.

　　The notes sat in a file for several years, at which time Robert began to writewhat was to be Stranger in a Strange Land. Somehow, the story didn’t quitejell, and he set it aside. He returned to the manuscript a few times, but it wasnot finished until 1960: this was the version you now hold in your hands.

　　In the context of 1960, Stranger in a Strange Land was a book that hispublishers feared-it was too far off the beaten path. So, in order to minimizepossible losses, Robert was asked to cut the manuscript down to 150,000words-a loss of about 70,000 words. Other changes were also requested,before the editor was willing to take a chance on publication.

　　To take out about a quarter of a long, complicated book was close to animpossible task. But, over the course of some months, Robert accomplishedit. The final word count came out at 160,087 words. Robert was convincedthat it was impossible to cut out any more, and the book was accepted at thatlength.

　　For 28 years it remained in print in that form.

　　In 1976, Congress passed a new Copyright Law, which said, in part, that inthe event an author died, and the widow or widower renewed the copyright,all old contracts were cancelled. Robert died in 1988, and the following yearthe copyright for Stranger in a Strange Land came up for renewal.

　　Unlike many other authors, Robert had kept a copy of the original typescript,as submitted for publication, on file at the library of the University of Californiaat Santa Cruz, his archivists. I asked for a copy of that manuscript, and readthat and the published versions side by side. And I came to the conclusionthat it had been a mistake to cut the book.

　　So I sent a copy of the typescript to Eleanor Wood, Robert’s agent. Eleanoralso read the two versions together, and agreed with my verdict. So, after thenotification to the publisher, she presented them with a copy of the new/oldversion.

　　No one remembered the fact that such drastic cutting had been done on thisbook; over the course of years all the editors and senior officers at thepublishing house had changed. So this version was a complete surprise tothem.

　　They decided to publish the original version, agreeing that it was betterthan the cut one.

　　You now have in your hands the original version of Stranger in a StrangeLand, as written by Robert Anson Heinlein.

　　The given names of the chief characters have great importance to the plot.

　　They were carefully selected: Jubal means .the father of all,“ Michael standsfor .Who is like God?“ I leave it for the reader to find out what the othernames mean. -Virginia Heinlein Carmel, California