Under the Volcano was first published in 1947, but the story of the novel
begins eleven years earlier in 1936 when Lowry visited Mexico and was living in Cuernavaca
with his first wife, Jan Gabrial.
They were touring various towns and villages and on one of their trips their bus stopped
beside a man lying, apparently dying, on the side of the road. They were advised to avoid getting involved and
apparently observed someone, a "pelado," had stolen the dying man's money.
This incident inspired Lowry to write a short story which he finished within a few weeks.
The central characters were an alcoholic British Consul, his daughter, Yvonne, and her
boyfriend, Hugh, who have an experience similar to Lowry's. The original story was never
published in Lowry's lifetime, but it eventually developed into Chapter VIII of
Under the Volcano. (The original story was eventually published in Prairie Schooner,
XXXVII, 4, Winter 1963/64; and in Malcolm Lowry: Psalms and Songs, ed. Margarie Lowry,
New York: NAL, 1975.)
Lowry began expanding the story almost immediately and completed a first draft by the
following year. Despite the occasional turmoil in his life, he continued to revise and
expand the novel during the next few years. In 1940, Lowry engaged an agent, Harold Matson,
to handle Under the Volcano and find a publisher.
The novel was repeatedly rejected, but Lowry overcame his disappointment and began rewriting.
(The 1940 version of the novel has recently been published as The 1940 Under the Volcano,
edited by Paul Tiessen and Miguel Mota; Waterloo, Ontario: mlr editions canada, 1994.)
With the assistance of his second wife, Margerie Bonner, Lowry continued working on the novel
while living in a squatter's shack in Dollarton, British Columbia. The
manuscript was nearly lost when, in June 1944, the shack burnt to the ground. Margerie was
able to rescue Under the Volcano, but all of Lowry's other works in progress were
destroyed.
Following a temporary move to Oakville, Ontario, Lowry and Margerie rebuilt the shack and
Lowry finally completed the novel in 1945. It began making the rounds of the publishers
once again.
In the winter of 1945-46, while on a holiday in Mexico, Lowry received word that Under the
Volcano had been accepted for publication by Reynal & Hitchcock in New York and by
Jonathan Cape in London.
The Reynal & Hitchcock edition appeared on 19 February 1947, Jonathan
Cape's edition on 1 September 1947.
Under the Volcano was subsequently published in paperback editions by Vintage Books
(New York, 1958) and Penguin Books (London, 1962). J.B. Lippincott reissued a hardcover
edition in 1965. A Jonathan Cape reissue appeared in 1967. The novel is currently
out-of-print in hardcover.
