Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875 - 1950)
In 1962 a Los Angeles librarian tried to banish the Tarzan books from
the shelves, claiming, because Tarzan and Jane weren't married, that the books were immoral. Actually, Tarzan and Jane were married at the end of 'The Return of Tarzan.' The woman must have got her information from
movies she had seen, which often gave the impression that he and Jane were not married. Married or not, it is certainly not a reason to suppress
any work of literature! Many die-hard fans rose to Tarzan's defense (citing chapter and verse), newspaper editorials were written, and a few publishers
began to wonder if there was something still worthwhile about Tarzan.
This is now a part of the 'Tarzan' lore. The character 'Tarzan' is today
still one of the most popular and recognizable heroes ever to grace the
pages of a book or run through the imagination of an innocent child.
Collecting Tarzan books, however, is not for children now a days. It is
a very confusing world out there when one attempts to decipher just what is the First Printing of each title. One begins to ask 'What am I looking
for?' 'What needs to be on the jacket; copyright page, etc.?' The Tarzan books are one of THE most difficult since markings are often absent and
they have been printed by so many different publishers. Just so you know, a TRUE FIRST PRINTING IN FINE JACKET OF THE VERY FIRST TARZAN BOOK EVER,
WOULD BE WORTH ABOUT $100,000.00 IF YOU COULD FIND ONE!
It is with this in mind that we are sharing with you information that a
customer was gracious enough to share with us concerning the print history of Edgar Rice Burrough's 'Tarzan' series of books.
One of the most successful and popular authors of the twentieth century was Edgar Rice Burroughs, the creator of 'Tarzan'. In many ways, he started
the art of writing fantasy and even science fiction. His books were so often reprinted, it is difficult to tell a first print from a first thus
or even a book club. Here is a chronology of Burroughs's works of Tarzan:
THE ONLY "TRUE FIRST PRINTINGS" were by: McClurg (Chicago) from 1914-1928,
Metropolitan( NY) from 1928-1931,
Burroughs (Tarzana) himself from 1932 on (Note 1948 thin Tan/Gray
Burroughs are reprints).
Canaveral Press 1962+ (only a few, the ones with 'line' drawn figures are reprints. Most of the Met & Burroughs 1st's had Blue covers with Red
lettering.
Unfortunately, ALL the ERB books only show the Original Copyright date on reprints. Ignore Copyright pages on ALL Grosset &
Dunlap (NY) and A.L.Burt (NY) books. A.L.Burt (1915-19 dates) ONLY issued reprints for the
first 5 Tarzans (until 1927). Grosset & Dunlap also ONLY issued reprints and NEVER put there reprint dates in them. G&D started Tarzan reprints in
1921 with the 6th(Jungle Tales) Tarzan book. They didn't get the reprint rights for the first 5 Tarzan's until 1927 (after ALBurt). G&D started
Mars, etc reprints in 1918, usually a year after the 1st Editions.
On lots of eBay auctions, people think they have originals and we all wish G&D and A.L.Burt had put their reprint dates in them, to avoid all
the confusion.
Lots of McClurgs had 5-10 plates, except for the 1st 5 Tarzans (they only had 0-1). The G&D's had a few early reprints with 4-8 but most and later
ones have 1 or 0.
The thin G&D books with Maroon covers (WWII or Madison Square editions) are from 1943. They have a 'cheap paper' warning on the Title page, and usually
turned brown)
Burroughs first tested the reprint market in 1940 with 7 normal thickness Red books. The thinner Tan/Gray Tarzan and Mars books by Burroughs are
reprints from 1948.
The books with Tarzan/elephant silhouettte on various colored covers are from the re-print set published by G&D from 1948-50. Known as the "Books For
Boys & Girls".
Whitman issued reprints in 1952 & 1954, first with DJ's, then with painted covers. Canaveral Press issued reprints in the early 1960's, and some 1st
Editions. Ace & Ballantine issued paperback reprints in 1963 and into the 1970's.
JUST THE DIFFERENT PRINTINGS OF: TARZAN OF THE APES FOR EXAMPLE:
1914 - McClurg, Dark Red w/Gold lettering, 1 pic, 392 pgs
1915 - ALBurt, Green w/White/Yel lettering, 1 pic, 392
1916-27 - ALBurt, Various Green w/Black Lettering, 1 pic, 392
1927-39 - Grosset&Dunlap, Red w/Black, 1 pic, 392
1939-42 - G&D, Red, 0 pic, 392
1943 - G&D Maroon, 0 pic, only 314 pgs (WWII cheap paper - Madison Square)
1960 - G&D Tan/Brown, only 314 pgs
Edgar Rice Burroughs
Tarzan of the Apes, MClurg, 1914
Beast of Tarzan, McClurg, 1915
A Princess of Mars, McClurg, 1917
The Son of Tarzan, McClurg, 1917
The Gods of Mars, McClurg, 1918
Tarzan an the Jewel of Opar, McClurg, 1918
Jungle Tales of Tarzan, McClurg, 1919
The World of Mars, McClurg, 1919
Tarzan the Untamed, McClurg, 1920
Thuvia, Mail of Mars, McClurg, 1920
The Mucker, McClurg, 1921
Tarzan the Terrible, McClurg, 1921
At the Earth's Core, McClurg, 1922
The Chessmen of Mars, McClurg, 1922
The Girl from Hollywood, Macaulay, 1923
Pellucidar, McClurg, 1923
Tarzan and the Golden Lion, McClurg, 1923
The Land that Time Forgot, McClurg, 1924
Tarzan and the Ant Man, McClurg, 1924
The Bandit of Hell's Bend, McClurg, 1925
The Cave Girl, McClurg, 1925
The Eternal lover, McClurg, 1925
The Mad King, McClurg, 1926
The Moon Maid, McClurg, 1926
The Outlaw of Torn, McClurg, 1927
The Tarzan Twins, Volland, 1927
The War Chief, McClurg, 1927
The Master Mind of Mars, McClurg, 1928
The Monster Men, McClurg, 1929
Tarzan and the Lost Empire, Grosset, 1929
Tanar of Pellucidar, Grosset, 1930
Tarzan at the Earth's Core, Grosset, 1930
A Fighting Man of Mars, Burroughs, 1931
Tarzan the Invincible, Burroughs, 1931
Jungle Girl, Burroughs, 1932
Tarzan Triumphant, Burroughs, 1932
Apache Devil, Burroughs, 1933
Tarzan and the City of Gold, Burroughs, 1933
Pirate of Venus, Burroughs, 1934
Tarzan and the Lion Man, Burroughs, 1934
Lost on Venus, Burroughs, 1935
Tarzan and the Leopard Men, Burroughs, 1935
Swords of Mars, Burroughs, 1936
Tarzan and the Tarzan Twins with Jad-Bal-Ja, the Golden Lion,
Whitman, 1936
Tarzan's Quest, Burroughs, 1936
Back To the Stone Age, Burroughs, 1937
The Oakdale Affair; The Rider, Burroughs, 1937
The Lad and the Lion, Burroughs, 1938
Tarzan and the Forbidden City, Burroughs, 1938
Tarzan's Revenge, Whitman, 1938
Carson of Venus, Burroughs, 1939
Tarzan the Magnificent, Burroughs, 1939
The Deputy Sheriff of Comanche County, Burroughs, 1940
Synthetic Men of Mars, Burroughs, 1940
Land of Terror, Burroughs, 1944
Escape on Venus, Burroughs, 1946
Tarzan and "The Foreigh Legion," Burroughs, 1947
Llana of Gathol, Burroughs, 1948
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