Burroughs, Edgar Rice 1875-1950

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BURROUGHS, Edgar Rice 1875-1950

(Normal Bean, John Tyler McCulloch)

PERSONAL: Born September 1, 1875, in Chicago, IL; died March 19, 1950; son of George Tyler (a distiller and battery manufacturer) and Mary Evaline (Zeiger) Burroughs; married Emma Centennia Hulbert, January 1, 1900 (divorced, 1934); married Florence Dearholt, 1935 (divorced, 1942); children: Joan, Hulbert, John Coleman. Education: Michigan Military Academy, graduated, 1895.

CAREER: Writer, 1912-50. Michigan Military Academy, Orchard Lake, MI, instructor and assistant commandant, 1895-96; owner of stationery store, Pocatello, ID, 1898; associated with American Battery Company, Chicago, IL, 1899-1903; associated with Sweetser-Burroughs Mining Company, ID, 1903-04; Oregon Short Line Railroad Company, Salt Lake City, UT, railroad policeman, 1904; Sears, Roebuck & Company, Chicago, manager of stenographic department, 1906-08; Burroughs and Dentzer (advertising agency), Chicago, partner, 1908-09; Physicians Co-operative Association, Chicago, office manager, 1909; State-Burroughs Company (sales firm), Chicago, partner, 1910-11; System Service Bureau, Chicago, manager, 1912-13; mayor, Malibu Beach, CA, 1933; United Press war correspondent in the Pacific during World War II. Founder of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. (publishing house), Burroughs-Tarzan Enterprises, and Burroughs-Tarzan Pictures. Military service: U.S. Cavalry, 1896-97.

WRITINGS:

novels

Tarzan of the Apes, McClurg (Chicago, IL), 1914, reprinted, Modern Library (New York, NY), 2003.

The Return of Tarzan, McClurg (Chicago, IL), 1915.

The Beasts of Tarzan, McClurg (Chicago, IL), 1916.

The Son of Tarzan, McClurg (Chicago, IL), 1917.

A Princess of Mars, McClurg (Chicago, IL), 1917, reprinted, Modern Library (New York, NY), 2003.

The Gods of Mars, McClurg (Chicago, IL), 1918.

Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar, McClurg (Chicago, IL), 1918.

The Warlord of Mars, McClurg (Chicago, IL), 1919.

Thuvia, Maid of Mars, McClurg (Chicago, IL), 1920.

Tarzan the Terrible, McClurg (Chicago, IL), 1921.

The Chessmen of Mars, McClurg (Chicago, IL), 1922.

At the Earth's Core, McClurg (Chicago, IL), 1922, reprinted, Dover Publications (Mineola, NY), 2001.

Pellucidar, McClurg (Chicago, IL), 1923, reprinted, Dover Publications (Mineola, NY), 2002.

Tarzan and the Golden Lion, McClurg (Chicago, IL), 1923.

The Girl from Hollywood, Macaulay, 1923.

Tarzan and the Ant Men, McClurg (Chicago, IL), 1924.

The Bandit of Hell's Bend, McClurg (Chicago, IL), 1925.

The War Chief, McClurg (Chicago, IL), 1927.

The Outlaw of Torn, McClurg (Chicago, IL), 1927.

Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle, McClurg (Chicago, IL), 1928.

The Master Mind of Mars, McClurg (Chicago, IL), 1928.

The Monster Men, McClurg (Chicago, IL), 1929.

Tarzan and the Lost Empire, Metropolitan, 1929.

Tarzan at the Earth's Core, Metropolitan, 1930.

Tanar of Pellucidar, Metropolitan, 1930.

A Fighting Man of Mars, Metropolitan, 1931.

Tarzan the Invincible, Burroughs (Tarzana, CA), 1931.

Tarzan the Triumphant, Burroughs (Tarzana, CA), 1931.

Jungle Girl, Burroughs (Tarzana, CA), 1932, published as The Land of Hidden Men, Ace Books, 1963.

Tarzan and the City of Gold, Burroughs (Tarzana, CA), 1933.

Apache Devil, Burroughs (Tarzana, CA), 1933.

Tarzan and the Lion-Men, Burroughs (Tarzana, CA), 1934.

Pirates of Venus, Burroughs (Tarzana, CA), 1934, reprinted, University of Nebraska Press (Lincoln, NE), 2001.

Lost on Venus, Burroughs (Tarzana, CA), 1935, reprinted, University of Nebraska Press (Lincoln, NB), 2004.

Tarzan and the Leopard Men, Burroughs (Tarzana, CA), 1935.

Tarzan's Quest, Burroughs (Tarzana, CA), 1936.

Swords of Mars, Burroughs (Tarzana, CA), 1936.

Back to the Stone Age, Burroughs (Tarzana, CA), 1937.

The Oakdale Affair: The Rider, Burroughs (Tarzana, CA), 1937.

Tarzan and the Forbidden City, Burroughs (Tarzana, CA), 1938.

The Lad and the Lion, Burroughs (Tarzana, CA), 1938.

Carson of Venus, Burroughs (Tarzana, CA), 1939.

The Deputy Sheriff of Comanche County, Burroughs (Tarzana, CA), 1940.

Synthetic Men of Mars, Burroughs (Tarzana, CA), 1940.

Land of Terror, Burroughs (Tarzana, CA), 1944.

Escape on Venus, Burroughs (Tarzana, CA), 1946.

Tarzan and the Foreign Legion, Burroughs (Tarzana, CA), 1947.

The People That Time Forgot, Ace Books (New York, NY), 1963.

Tarzan and the Madman, Canaveral Press (New York, NY), 1964.

Beyond the Farthest Star, Ace Books (New York, NY), 1964.

The Girl from Farris's, House of Greystoke, 1965.

The Efficiency Expert, House of Greystoke, 1966.

I Am a Barbarian, Burroughs (Tarzana, CA), 1967.

(Under pseudonym John Tyler McCulloch) Pirate Blood, Ace Books (New York, NY), 1970.

Out of Time's Abyss, Tandem (London, England), 1973.

Tarzan: The Lost Adventure, Dark Horse Comics (Milwaukie, OR), 1995.

Marcia of the Doorstep, Donald M. Grant (Hampton Falls, NH), 1999.

story collections

Jungle Tales of Tarzan, McClurg (Chicago, IL), 1919.

Tarzan the Untamed, McClurg (Chicago, IL), 1920.

The Mucker, McClurg (Chicago, IL), 1921, published as The Man without a Soul, two volumes, Methuen (London, England), 1921-1922.

The Land That Time Forgot, McClurg (Chicago, IL), 1924, reprinted, Modern Library (New York, NY), 2002.

The Eternal Lover, McClurg (Chicago, IL), 1925, published as The Eternal Savage, Ace Books (New York, NY), 1963.

The Cave Girl, McClurg (Chicago, IL), 1925.

The Moon Maid, McClurg (Chicago, IL), 1926, abridged edition published as The Moon Men, Canaveral Press (New York, NY), 1962, reprinted, University of Nebraska Press (Lincoln, NE), 2002.

The Monster Men, Canaveral Press (New York, NY), 1962.

The Mad King, McClurg (Chicago, IL), 1926.

Tarzan the Magnificent, Burroughs (Tarzana, CA), 1939.

Llana of Gathol, Burroughs (Tarzana, CA), 1948.

Beyond Thirty, privately printed, 1955, published as The Lost Continent, Ace Books (New York, NY), 1963, reprinted, University of Nebraska Press (Lincoln, NE), 2001.

The Man-Eater, privately printed, 1955.

Savage Pelludicar, Canaveral Press (New York, NY), 1963.

Tales of Three Planets, Canaveral Press (New York, NY), 1964.

John Carter of Mars, Canaveral Press (New York, NY), 1964.

Tarzan and the Castaways, Canaveral Press (New York, NY), 1964.

The Wizard of Venus, Ace Books (New York, NY), 1970.

Forgotten Tales of Love and Murder, Guidry & Adkins (New Orleans, LA), 2001.

other

The Tarzan Twins (juvenile), Volland, 1927.

Tarzan and the Tarzan Twins, with Jad-Bal-Ja, the Golden Lion (juvenile), Whitman Publishing, 1936.

Official Guide of the Tarzan Clans of America, privately printed, 1939.

A Romantic Play in Three Acts, Donald M. Grant (Hampton Falls, NH), 1999.

Author of column "Laugh It Off," Honolulu Advertiser, 1941-42 and 1945. Contributor, sometimes under pseudonym Normal Bean, to All-Story, Writer's Digest, New York World, and other publications.

ADAPTATIONS: The story of Tarzan has been adapted into motion picture and video formats, along with coloring books and children's books.

SIDELIGHTS: As the creator of Tarzan, one of the most enduring characters of popular adventure fiction, Edgar Rice Burroughs has earned a lasting place in twentieth-century American literature. Tarzan, the loinclothed, bare-chested "King of the Jungle," ranks with such fictional characters as Sherlock Holmes and Dracula in sheer name recognition and archetypal power. He has appeared in scores of motion pictures, television programs, comic books, and related media, and he has given birth to many imitators over the years, none of whom have achieved the same level of success. Despite the immense popularity of Tarzan, the character has never been a favorite with librarians, teachers, or literary critics, all of whom relegate the jungle monarch to the realm of cheap pulp adventure. Yet Burroughs's primary goal as a writer—to entertain his readers—was remarkably well satisfied with his Tarzan books. As for why he created Tarzan, Burroughs was always honest about his need for money. "I had a wife and two babies," he once explained.

Burroughs first turned to writing fiction following a series of unsuccessful careers as a railroad policeman, a partner in several businesses, a miner in Idaho, and as a manager for Sears, Roebuck. None of these positions gave him financial security. By 1912 Burroughs, an avid reader of adventure fiction, decided to try writing as a career. His first story, "Under the Moons of Mars," features interplanetary adventurer John Carter and sold almost immediately to All-Story magazine for four hundred dollars. It was printed under the pseudonym Normal Bean because Burroughs thought the story of Martian adventure might get him branded crazy if he used his real name. He also wanted to let his readers know that he was sane, with a "normal bean." His fears were unfounded. Readers demanded more stories of Mars and due to his success, Burroughs at last complied. By 1914 Burroughs was earning a reported twenty thousand dollars a year writing for the pulp magazines.

Discussing Burroughs's Mars novels, Dictionary of Literary Biography contributor John Hollow noted that "if one looks more closely at these novels, what emerges" from the action-driven plot that usually finds a young heroine's virtue imperiled, "is the far more universal threat of death. Burroughs's original Martian trilogy [A Princess of Mars, The Gods of Mars, and The Warlord of Mars] is a particularly fine instance of science fiction's attempt to cope with what Burroughs himself called 'the stern and unalterable cosmic laws,' the certainty that both individuals and whole races grow old and die."

Although his initial success lay with his Mars adventures, Burroughs's most popular character was undoubtedly Tarzan. An instant best-seller from his introduction in the October, 1912, issue of All-Story, Tarzan caught the imagination of the American public like few other characters ever had. Orphaned in the African jungle as a baby, Tarzan was raised by apes and was therefore able to communicate with all of the jungle's animals. His courage, strength, and primitive sense of justice served him well when confronted with treacherous villains, dangerous animals, or wild terrain. His adventures took him to lost cities and into the hollow center of the Earth. By the 1930s Tarzan had made Burroughs wealthy enough to found his own publishing house and motion picture company.

The overwhelming commercial success of the "Tarzan" books was somewhat dampened by the critical hostility Burroughs received. Throughout his career critics were less than kind to Burroughs, labeling his books as little more than crudely written entertainment. Some have even found, just beneath the surface of his fiction, clear signs of fascism, racism, and anti-intellectualism. However, as George P. Elliott noted in the Hudson Review, Burroughs's "prejudices are so gross that no one bothers to analyze them out or to attack them…. They were clear-eyed, well-thewed prejudices arrayed only in a loin cloth; you can take them or leave them, unless your big prejudice happens to be anti-prejudice. What matters is the story, which tastes good." Brian Attebury agreed, writing in The Fantasy Tradition in American Literature: From Irving to Le Guin that "Burroughs was neither more nor less than a good storyteller, with as much power—and finesse—as a bulldozer." Writing in Esquire, Gore Vidal claimed that, although Burroughs "is innocent of literature," he nonetheless "does have a gift very few writers of any kind possess: he can describe action vividly…. Tarzan in action is excellent."

Michael Orth, denying Burroughs's own claims that he wrote only to provide his readers with entertainment, discovered far more important themes in the prolific author's books. Burroughs, Orth stated in Extrapolation, "wrote stories about the value of an individual in relation to society, the value of progress, the problems and possibilities of advanced technologies, humans' relation to their environment, the proper role of religion, sexual and class politics, and a hundred other typically utopian concerns."

Perhaps the best case for the value of Burroughs's work is presented by Richard A. Lupoff in his Edgar Rice Burroughs: Master of Adventure. "When an author," wrote Lupoff, "survives for half a century, not only without the support of the critical or academic community, but in the face of these communities' adamant condemnation, it is time to begin asking if a legitimate folk-author has not been here. It is time to start thinking of permanence."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

books

Attebury, Brian. The Fantasy Tradition in American Literature: From Irving to Le Guin, Indiana University Press (Bloomington, IN), 1980.

Brady, Clark A., The Burroughs Cyclopaedia: Characters, Places, Fauna, Flora, Technologies, Languages, Ideas, and Terminologies Found in the Works of Edgar Rice Burroughs, McFarland (Jefferson, NC), 1996.

Day, Bradford M., Edgar Rice Burroughs Bibliography, Science Fiction and Fantasy Publications, 1956.

Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 8: Twentieth-Century American Science Fiction Writers, Gale (Detroit, MI), 1981, pp. 87-92.

Farmer, Philip José, Tarzan Alive, Doubleday (New York, NY), 1972.

Fenton, Robert, Big Swingers: Biography of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Prentice-Hall, 1967.

Fury, David, Kings of the Jungle: An Illustrated Reference to "Tarzan" on Screen and Television, McFarland (Jefferson, NC), 1994.

Harwood, John, The Literature of Burroughsiana, Camille Cazedessus, Jr. (Baton Rouge, LA), 1963.

Heins, Henry Hardy, A Golden Anniversary Bibliography of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Donald M. Grant (West Kingston, RI), 1964.

Lupoff, Richard A., Edgar Rice Burroughs: Master of Adventure, Canaveral Press (New York, NY), 1965.

Porges, Irwin, Edgar Rice Burroughs: The Man Who Created Tarzan, Brigham Young University Press (Provo, UT), 1975.

Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism, Gale (Detroit, MI), Volume 2, 1979, Volume 32, 1989.

Zaidan, Samira H., A Comparative Study of Haiu Bnu Yakdhan, Mowgli, and Tarzan, Red Squirrel Books, 1998.

Zeuschner, Robert B., Edgar Rice Burroughs: The Exhaustive Scholar's and Collector's Descriptive Bibliography of Periodical, Hardcover, Paperback, and Reprint Editions, McFarland (Jefferson, NC), 1996.