Edgar Rice Burroughs
Personal Information
Description
Edgar Rice Burroughs was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of a businessman. During the Chicago influenza epidemic in 1891, he spent half a year on his brothers' ranch on the Raft River in Idaho. He attended the Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts and then the Michigan Military Academy, from which he graduated in 1895. He failed the entrance exam for West Point, and so became an enlisted soldier with the 7th U.S. Cavalry in Fort Grant, Arizona Territory. He was discharged in 1897, having been found ineligible for service due to a heart problem. He drifted, working odd jobs at ranches across Idaho, then came to work at his father's firm in 1899. He married Emma Centennia Hulbert in 1900. In 1904 he left his job and found less regular work, ending up back in Chicago. He held several low-wage jobs for the next seven years, then, while working as a pencil sharpener wholesaler, he began to write fiction in 1911. He began reading pulp fiction magazines and decided to aim his fiction toward getting published in these magazines. His first published story, "Under the Moons of Mars," was serialized in The All-Story magazine in 1912. He began writing full-time and his first published novel, Tarzan of the Apes, was published in October of 1912. In 1919 he purchased a ranch north of Los Angeles, California which he named "Tarzana," a name which was later adopted by the citizens of the community that sprang up around the ranch. In 1923 he set up Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. and began printing his own books. He divorced Emma in 1934 and married former actress Florence Gilbert Dearholt in 1935. In 1941, when Pearl Harbor, Hawaii was attacked, he was a resident of Hawaii and he volunteered to become the oldest war correspondent for the U.S. during World War II. He divorced his second wife in 1942. After the war he moved back to Encino, California, where, after many health problems, he died of a heart attack in March of 1950. Over the course of his writing career he wrote almost seventy novels.
Books
Tanar of Pellucidar (Bison Frontiers of Imagination)
The third installment in the classic Pellucidar series returns to the exotic and savage land at the center of the Earth. Led by American explorer David Innes, the human communities have finally overthrown Pellucidar's slave masters, the dreaded Mahars. The peace, however, is temporary, and the Pellucidarian Empire is faced with a new menace, the deadly Korsar pirates. -- Back cover.
People Out of Time
From the book:I am forced to admit that even though I had traveled a long distance to place Bowen Tyler's manuscript in the hands of his father, I was still a trifle skeptical as to its sincerity, since I could not but recall that it had not been many years since Bowen had been one of the most notorious practical jokers of his alma mater. The truth was that as I sat in the Tyler library at Santa Monica I commenced to feel a trifle foolish and to wish that I had merely forwarded the manuscript by express instead of bearing it personally, for I confess that I do not enjoy being laughed at. I have a well-developed sense of humor - when the joke is not on me. Mr. Tyler, Sr., was expected almost hourly. The last steamer in from Honolulu had brought information of the date of the expected sailing of his yacht Toreador, which was now twenty-four hours overdue. Mr. Tyler's assistant secretary, who had been left at home, assured me that there was no doubt but that the Toreador had sailed as promised, since he knew his employer well enough to be positive that nothing short of an act of God would prevent his doing what he had planned to do. I was also aware of the fact that the sending apparatus of the Toreador's wireless equipment was sealed, and that it would only be used in event of dire necessity.
Under the moons of Mars
An anthology of original stories featuring the Edgar Rice Burroughs character John Carter, an Earthman who suddenly finds himself on a strange new world, Mars.
Forgotten tales of love and murder
From the dust jacket blurb: Drawn from manuscripts that have been locked away a half-century and more in the vaults of the Burroughs corporation in Tarzana, California—prepared with the cooperation and assistance of Danton Burroughs, grandson of the author, and of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.—Forgotten Tales of Love and Murder collects in a single volume all of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ non-Tarzan short stories and mystery puzzles, most of which have never before appeared in print: “Jonathan's Patience,” an ironic, previously overlooked tale that appears to predate Burroughs’ professional work. “The Avenger” (1912), a dark, violent story of revenge. “For The Fool's Mother” (1912), the author's first Western. “The Little Door” (1917), a powerful tale of love, war, and horror. “Calling All Cars” (1931), murder and romance in the hills of Los Angeles. “Elmer” (1936), a defrosted caveman comes to Hollywood. (This is Burroughs’ original version of the story his Argosy editor revised into “The Resurrection of Jimber-Jaw.”) “The Strange Adventure of Mr. Dinnwiddie” (1940), humor, seduction, and intrigue aboard an ocean liner bound for Hawaii. “Misogynists Preferred” (1941), demonstrating what happens when a gaggle of woman-hating men meets a covey of man-hating women. “Uncle Bill” (1944), a tale of horror in everyday life. “The Red Necktie” (circa 1932), a stand-alone mystery puzzle. “Murder: A Collection of Short Murder Mystery Puzzles” (circa 1932-1940), seven fictional puzzles, featuring the author’s last series character to appear in book form—Police Inspector Muldoon—and his trusted biographer and sidekick, Edgar Rice Burroughs! “The Dupuyster Case” (circa 1932), an unfinished Muldoon mystery puzzle. Also included are “An Autobiographical Sketch” (originally published in the June, 1941 issue of Amazing Stories), an introduction by Patrick H. Adkins, and eighteen drawings by artist Danny Frolich. Here are eighteen nearly forgotten works by one of the most widely read authors of the Twentieth Century. By turns witty and sardonic, gripping, suspenseful, humorous, and horrifying, these long overlooked tales are above all else highly readable, boasting the authentic voice of a master storyteller. Their publication is long past due.
At the Earth's Core
Dr. Abner Perry has invented a high-calibration digging machine affectionately called 'The Iron Mole'. While testing his invention with his financial backer and former student David Innes, the machine malfunctions and the pair end up burrowing deep into the earth to emerge in Pellucidar, a lush underground cavern filled with giant prehistoric creatures. While fleeing one such creature, Dr. Perry and David are captured by strange inhuman soldiers, called Sagoths, and placed with other human slaves, where they meet Ghak and the beautiful Princess Dia. Dia is kidnapped by another human named Hoojah the Sly One, while Dr. Perry, David and the slaves are taken to the city of the Majars, large telepathic bird-like creatures that rule the underground world. While David is sent to repair the walls that protect the city from the molten lava, Dr. Perry is sent to transcribe books in the Majar's library. David is able to escape his captors and finds a secret passage out of the Majar city. Outside, David meets Ra, the chief of a human tribe. David suggests that Ra organize the tribes to defeat the Majar but Ra shows David the Majar's true power by taking him to the Majar's grotto where he witnesses one of the Majars hypnotize a female slave before swooping down and carrying her off in its powerful talons. While sneaking back into the city, David and Ra are captured and forced to battle a huge monster but they prevail, killing a Majar in the process. Seeing that the Majar are not invincible, the slaves revolt, allowing David and Ra to escape with Ghak and Dr. Perry. Along the way, Dr. Perry shows David the 'secret of the Majar', a nursery where all the Majar are born. David vows to destroy the Majars but first, he must rescue Dia from Jubal the Ugly One. With the aid of Ra and Ghak, David unites the human tribes and arms them with primitive weapons but the telepathic Majar are prepared for their attack. At first, the battle doesn't go well, with Dia and Dr. Perry being captured but Ra is able to destroy the nursery by unleashing the lava at the cost of his own life. Hypnotized by a Majar, Dia is about to be killed when David and the other humans arrive to save her and Dr. Perry. As the humans flee the city, it is consumed by lava, killing all the Majar. Returning to the surface, David asks Dia to come with him but she says she cannot and the two sadly part company.