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What if a journey to Mars leads not just to an ancient civilization, but to a daring gamble in wheat?
In Pharaoh's Broker, Ellsworth Douglass brings planetary adventure and the grain trade into the same story. A voyage to Mars opens the way to an ancient society, while a huge wheat speculation stretches across two worlds. The stakes lie in trade and risk as much as in the wonder of reaching another planet.
First published in 1899, this science fiction adventure belongs to the tradition of scientific romance. Its title brings together ancient kingship and the business of a broker: rulers and storehouses on one side, markets and bold speculation on the other. Travel, commerce and strange old civilizations meet in a tale with the odd humor of period adventure.
What you’ll discover
- A voyage beyond Earth Follow a journey to Mars shaped by the wonder of early planetary adventure.
- An ancient society Explore the meeting of another planet and a civilization rooted in an old world.
- Wheat becomes an adventure Discover a story that puts a basic good of commerce at its center.
- A bold market gamble Encounter a huge wheat speculation whose reach extends across two worlds.
- The flavor of scientific romance Enjoy the blend of travel, business and wonder that gives this adventure its character.
Who will love it
You will love this book if you enjoy early science fiction, inventive voyages, clever traders, and an old tale of space physics, Bible echoes and comic banter.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- The headlines miss the real story
- A bargain opens the way upward
- Earth's shadow becomes their guide
- Survival depends on wit and design
- Weapons cannot create a friendship
- A shared language opens the palace
- Repeated history becomes a trading opportunity
- Wealth can become a trap
- Follow what each person values
Who’s who
- Isidor WernerA quick young Chicago wheat trader who funds a space voyage and then tries to build a fortune in the grain trade of Mars.
- Hermann AnderweltA stern physicist from Heidelberg who invents the gravity projectile and wants lasting credit for the first trip between worlds.
- ZaphnathA young Hebrew ruler of the land of Kem who speaks ancient Hebrew and manages all the affairs of the Pharaoh.
- ThenocrisA tall, silent woman who begs for alms by the gate and meets the strangers with calm and no fear.
- HotepA rich landowner of Kem with a thousand mules and a claim to the throne, who bargains for Werner's gold.
- The PharaohThe feathered, cigar-loving ruler of Kem, who leaves his affairs to Zaphnath and delights in rare and shining things.
- Two-spotThe small fox terrier who rides the projectile and leaps wildly in the weak gravity of Mars.
- Ruth WernerWerner's cousin at home in Chicago, whose faith in his return and whose later pushing bring his story to print.
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Pharaoh's Broker
by Ellsworth Douglass · 1899
A Chicago wheat trader joins a gravity ship to Mars and finds a Pharaoh's kingdom with a grain market to corner.
Medium level2–5 hours to read20 languages
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“Farewell to Earth forever!”
In short
What if a man could fall upward, away from Earth, and land on Mars in seven weeks? Pharaoh's Broker begins in Chicago, where five newspapers tear at the mystery of a missing wheat trader.
Pharaoh's Broker at a glance
- Reading time
- About 4 h 40 min3 h 40 min fast, 5 h 30 min slow
- Length
- 66,300 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1899by Ellsworth Douglass
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Chicago's newspapers all guess wrong about Werner
The book opens with a preface dated 1898 in Boston. Douglass copies out newspaper columns about a missing young broker named Isidor Werner. He vanishes after buying heavily in the wheat pit on a Tuesday morning.
Each paper has its own theory. The Evening Post finds a steel rocket in the sand and decides on suicide. The Inter Ocean suspects a faked death for the insurance money. The Tribune hunts a strange German doctor named Anderwelt and promises to prove murder. The Herald says both men sit trapped in a submarine on the bottom of Lake Michigan.
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Details
- First published
- 1899
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 5 h 10 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Douglass, Ellsworth. Pharaoh's Broker. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/pharaohs-broker.
Douglass, E. (2026). Pharaoh's broker. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/pharaohs-broker (Original work published 1899)
Douglass, Ellsworth. Pharaoh's Broker. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/pharaohs-broker.
@book{douglass2026pharaohs,
author = {Douglass, Ellsworth},
title = {Pharaoh's Broker},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/pharaohs-broker},
note = {First published 1899}
}
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What is Pharaoh's Broker about?
It tells of a Chicago wheat trader who backs an inventor's gravity ship, travels to Mars, and finds an ancient Egyptian style kingdom whose seven great harvests offer a chance to corner the grain market.
Who is Zaphnath in Pharaoh's Broker?
Zaphnath is the young ruler of Kem, the Martian land, who speaks ancient Hebrew and runs the Pharaoh's affairs. His name matches the Egyptian name given to the biblical Joseph.
How does the gravity projectile work?
Anderwelt claims that gravity can act in either direction, like magnetism. By changing the polarity of the ship's steel frame, he makes Earth repel it, so the ship falls upward through space.
The author
Ellsworth Douglass
1863–1933 · American author
Ellsworth Douglass was an American author, real-estate speculator, and insurance broker. He was born in 1863 and died in 1933. His novel Pharaoh’s Broker was published in 1899. He lived in the United States during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
“Farewell to Earth forever!”
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