The Curse of Capistrano is a 1919 serialized novel by Johnston McCulley and the first work to feature the fictional Californio character Zorro (zorro is the Spanish word for fox). It would be later published as a book in 1924 under the title The Mark of Zorro

McCulley's novel first appeared in 1919 as a five-part story serialized in All-Story Weekly, a popular pulp magazine. The novel was quickly adapted to film as The Mark of Zorro, starring Douglas Fairbanks.

The Curse of Capistrano (The Mark of Zorro) by Johnston McCulley

"The Curse of Capistrano" by Johnston McCulley. Published by DigiCat. DigiCat publishes a wide range of titles that encompasses every genre. From well-known classics & literary fiction and non-fiction to forgotten−or yet undiscovered gems−of world literature, we issue the books that need to be read. Each DigiCat edition has been meticulously edited and formatted to boost readability for all e-readers and devices. Our goal is to produce eBooks that are user-friendly and accessible to everyone in a high-quality digital format.

This premium quality edition contains the complete and unabridged text of The Curse of Capistrano, Johnston McCulley's original tale of the adventures of Zorro, printed on heavy, bright white paper in a large 6"x9" format, with page headers and a fully laminated full-color cover featuring an original design.Also included in this edition is a new, original biographical sketch discussing the life and work of the prolific, but enigmatic, author.First published in 1919 as a serial in the "All-Story Weekly" pulp magazine, this story was originally titled The Curse of Capistrano and was the first appearance of the "Zorro" character, the dashing masked vigilante fighting against the oppression of the King's officials in "Old California," while hiding his real identity as Don Diego Vega behind a foppish facade.When it became the basis for the 1920 Douglas Fairbanks film "The Mark of Zorro" and was republished as a novel to coincide with the film, it was re-titled as The Mark of Zorro. Numerous "Zorro" stories, books and films followed, some following Johnston McCulley's original characterizations more closely than others and all, including McCulley's own later stories, essentially disregarding the ending of the original story without explanation.Born in Ottawa, Illinois on February 2, 1883, Johnston McCulley was a prolific writer who published extensively in the pulp magazines of the day under a variety of pen names. He created a number of popular masked, costumed "vigilante" characters and "gentleman villains" with secret identities, and his work was a major influence on subsequent pulp characters.

The Mark of Zorro (The Curse of Capistrano) tells of the story of Don Diego Vega, alias 'Señor Zorro', in the company of his deaf and mute servant Bernardo and his lover Lolita Pulido, as they oppose the villainous Captain Ramon and Sgt. Gonzales in early 19th-century California during the era of Mexican rule. The novel is set amongst the historic Spanish missions in California, pueblos such as San Juan Capistrano, California, and the rural California countryside

The Curse of Capistrano is a 1919 serialized novel by Johnston McCulley and the first work to feature the fictional Californio character Zorro (zorro is the Spanish word for fox). It would be later published as a book in 1924 under the title The Mark of Zorro.About McCulley: Johnston McCulley (February 2, 1883 Ottawa, Illinois - November 23, 1958) was the author of hundreds of stories, fifty novels, numerous screenplays for film and television, and the creator of the character Zorro. Many of his novels and stories were written under the pseudonyms Harrison Strong, Raley Brien, George Drayne, Monica Morton, Rowena Raley, Frederic Phelps, Walter Pierson, and John Mack Stone, among others. McCulley started as a police reporter for The Police Gazette and served as an Army public affairs officer during World War I. An amateur history buff, he went on to a career in pulp fiction and screenplays, often using a Southern California backdrop for his stories.