Edgar Rice Burroughs 9657 226157446 2008-07-17T02:11:56Z CommanderCool1654 1577895 /* Popular Culture */ {{Infobox Writer <!-- for more information see [[:Template:Infobox Writer/doc]] --> | name = Edgar Rice Burroughs | image = E-R-Burroughs.jpg | birthdate = {{birth date|1875|9|1|mf=y}} | birthplace = [[Chicago]], [[Illinois]], [[United States]] | deathdate = {{death date and age|1950|3|19|1875|9|1|mf=y}} | deathplace = [[Encino, California]], [[United States]] | occupation = Novelist | nationality = [[United States|American]] | period = 20th century | genre = [[Adventure novel]], [[Lost World (genre)|Lost World]], [[Sword and Planet]], [[Planetary Romance]], [[Soft science fiction]], [[Westerns]] | notableworks = [[Tarzan|Tarzan series]], [[Barsoom|Barsoom series]] | influences = [[H. Rider Haggard]], [[Rudyard Kipling]], [[Jules Verne]], [[Arthur Conan Doyle]], [[H.G. Wells]], [[Edwin Lester Linden Arnold]] | influenced = [[Robert E. Howard]], [[A. Merritt]], [[Ray Bradbury]], [[Robert A. Heinlein]], [[Michael Moorcock]], [[Lin Carter]], [[Leigh Brackett]], [[John Norman]], [[Otis Adelbert Kline]] }} '''Edgar Rice Burroughs''' ([[September 1]], [[1875]] – [[March 19]], [[1950]]) was an [[United States|American]] author, best known for his creation of the jungle hero [[Tarzan]] and the heroic [[John Carter (character)|John Carter]], although he produced works in many genres. ==Biography== Burroughs was born on [[September 1]] [[1875]] in [[Chicago]], [[Illinois]] (although he later lived for many years in the neighboring suburb of [[Oak Park, Illinois|Oak Park]]), the son of a businessman. He was educated at a number of local [[school]]s, and during the Chicago [[influenza]] epidemic in 1891 spent a half year on his brothers' ranch on the [[Raft River]] in [[Idaho]]. He then attended the [[Phillips Academy]] in [[Andover, Massachusetts]] and then the [[Michigan Military Academy]]. Graduating in 1895, and failing the entrance exam for [[United States Military Academy|West Point]], he ended up as an enlisted [[soldier]] with the [[7th U.S. Cavalry]] in [[Fort Grant]], [[Arizona Territory]]. After being diagnosed with a [[heart]] problem and thus found ineligible for a commission, he was discharged in 1897. What followed was a string of seemingly unrelated and short stint jobs. Following a period of drifting and ranch work in [[Idaho]], Burroughs found 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, initially in Idaho but soon back in Chicago. By 1911, after seven years of low wages, he was working as a [[pencil sharpener]] wholesaler and began to write fiction. By this time Burroughs and Emma had two children, Joan and Hulbert. During this period, he had copious spare time and he began reading many [[pulp magazine|pulp fiction magazines]] and has since claimed: <blockquote> "...if people were paid for writing rot such as I read in some of those magazines that I could write stories just as rotten. As a matter of fact, although I had never written a story, I knew absolutely that I could write stories just as entertaining and probably a whole lot more so than any I chanced to read in those magazines." </blockquote> Aiming his work at these pulp fiction magazines, his first story "Under the Moons of Mars" was serialized in ''[[The All-Story]]'' magazine in 1912<ref name="moonsofmars">ERBzine, [http://www.erbzine.com/mag4/0419.html Volume 0419 -"A Virtual Visit to The Nell Dismukes McWhorter Memorial Edgar Rice Burroughs Collection"], with photographs.</ref><ref name="allstory">[http://www.all-story.com/issues.cgi?action=show_story&story_id=69 Zoetrope: All-Story: Back Issue<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> and earned Burroughs US$400 (roughly the equivalent of US$7600 in 2004). Burroughs soon took up writing full-time and by the time the run of ''Under the Moons of Mars'' had finished he had completed two [[novel]]s, including ''[[Tarzan of the Apes]]'', which was published from October 1912 and went on to begin his most successful series. In 1913, Burroughs and Emma had their third and last child, John Coleman. Burroughs also wrote popular [[science fiction]] and [[fantasy]] stories involving Earthly adventurers transported to various [[planet]]s (notably [[Barsoom]], Burroughs' fictional name for [[Mars (planet)|Mars]], and [[Venus series|Amtor]], his fictional name for [[Venus (planet)|Venus]]), lost [[island]]s, and into the interior of the [[Hollow Earth|hollow earth]] in his ''[[Pellucidar]]'' stories, as well as [[Western fiction|western]]s and historical romances. Along with ''All-Story'', many of his stories were published in the ''[[Argosy Magazine]]''. [[Tarzan]] was a cultural sensation when introduced. Burroughs was determined to capitalize on Tarzan's popularity in every way possible. He planned to exploit Tarzan through several different media including a syndicated Tarzan [[comic strip]], [[film|movie]]s and merchandise. Experts in the field advised against this course of action, stating that the different media would just end up competing against each other. Burroughs went ahead, however, and proved the experts wrong—the public wanted Tarzan in whatever fashion he was offered. Tarzan remains one of the most successful fictional characters to this day and is a [[cultural icon]]. In 1923 Burroughs set up his own company, [[Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.]], and began printing his own [[book]]s through the 1930s. He divorced Emma in 1934 and married former actress [[Florence Gilbert|Florence Gilbert Dearholt]] in 1935, ex-wife of his friend, [[Ashton Dearholt]], adopting the Dearholts' two children. They divorced in 1942. At the time of the attack on [[Pearl Harbor]] he was a resident of [[Hawaii]] and, despite being in his late sixties, he asked for permission to be a [[war correspondent]]. This permission was granted and so he became the oldest war correspondent for the U.S. during [[World War II]]. After the war ended, Burroughs moved back to [[Encino, California]], where, after many health problems, he died of a heart attack on [[March 19]], [[1950]], having written almost seventy novels. The town of [[Tarzana, California]] was named after Tarzan. In 1919 Burroughs purchased a large ranch north of [[Los Angeles, California]] which he named "Tarzana." The citizens of the community that sprang up around the ranch voted to adopt that name when their town was incorporated in 1928. The [[Burroughs (crater)|Burroughs]] crater on Mars is named in Burroughs' honor. ==Selected bibliography== ===Barsoom series=== {{main|Barsoom}} *''[[A Princess of Mars]]'' (1912) ([[Project Gutenberg]] Entry: [http://gutenberg.net/etext/62]) (LibriVox.org MP3 recording [http://librivox.org/a-princess-of-mars-by-edgar-rice-burroughs/]) *''[[The Gods of Mars]]'' (1914) ([[Project Gutenberg]] Entry:[http://gutenberg.net/etext/64]) (LibriVox.org MP3 recording [http://librivox.org/the-gods-of-mars-by-edgar-rice-burroughs/]) *''[[The Warlord of Mars]]'' (1918) ([[Project Gutenberg]] Entry:[http://gutenberg.net/etext/68]) (AudioBooksForFree.com MP3 recording [http://www.audiobooksforfree.com/details/Fiction/2000036/Warlord-Of-Mars]) *''[[Thuvia, Maid of Mars]]'' (1920) ([[Project Gutenberg]] Entry:[http://gutenberg.net/etext/72]) (AudioBooksForFree.com MP3 recording [http://www.audiobooksforfree.com/details/Fiction/2000030/Thuvia-Maid-Of-Mars]) *''[[The Chessmen of Mars]]'' (1922) ([[Project Gutenberg]] Entry:[http://gutenberg.net/etext/1153]) *''[[The Master Mind of Mars]]'' (1928) ([[Project Gutenberg]] Entry:[http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks01/0100201.txt]) *''[[A Fighting Man of Mars]]'' (1931) ([[Project Gutenberg]] Entry:[http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks01/0100211.txt]) *''[[Swords of Mars]]'' (1936) ([[Project Gutenberg]] Entry:[http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks01/0100221.txt]) *''[[Synthetic Men of Mars]]'' (1940) ([[Project Gutenberg]] Entry:[http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks01/0100231.txt]) *''[[Llana of Gathol]]'' (1948) ([[Project Gutenberg]] Entry:[http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks01/0100241.txt]) *''[[John Carter of Mars (collection)|John Carter of Mars]]'' (1964) **"[[John Carter and the Giant of Mars]]" (1940) ([[Project Gutenberg]] Entry:[http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0600581.txt]) **"[[Skeleton Men of Jupiter]]" (1942) ([[Project Gutenberg]] Entry:[http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0600591.txt]) ===Tarzan series=== {{main|Tarzan}} *''[[Tarzan of the Apes]]'' (1912) ([[Project Gutenberg]] Entry:[http://gutenberg.net/etext/78]) *''[[The Return of Tarzan]]'' (1913) ([[Project Gutenberg]] Entry:[http://gutenberg.net/etext/81]) *''[[The Beasts of Tarzan]]'' (1914) ([[Project Gutenberg]] Entry:[http://gutenberg.net/etext/85]) *''[[The Son of Tarzan]]'' (1914) ([[Project Gutenberg]] Entry:[http://gutenberg.net/etext/90]) *''[[Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar]]'' (1916) ([[Project Gutenberg]] Entry:[http://gutenberg.net/etext/92]) *''[[Jungle Tales of Tarzan]]'' (1916, 1917) ([[Project Gutenberg]] Entry:[http://gutenberg.net/etext/106]) *''[[Tarzan the Untamed]]'' (1919, 1921) ([[Project Gutenberg]] Entry:[http://gutenberg.net/etext/1401]) *''[[Tarzan the Terrible]]'' (1921) ([[Project Gutenberg]] Entry:[http://gutenberg.net/etext/2020]) *''[[Tarzan and the Golden Lion]]'' (1922, 1923) *''[[Tarzan and the Ant Men]]'' (1924) *''[[Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle (novel)|Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle]]'' (1927, 1928) *''[[Tarzan and the Lost Empire]]'' (1928) *''[[Tarzan at the Earth's Core]]'' (1929) *''[[Tarzan the Invincible]]'' (1930. 1931) *''[[Tarzan Triumphant]]'' (1931) *''[[Tarzan and the City of Gold]]'' (1932) *''[[Tarzan and the Lion Man]]'' (1933, 1934) *''[[Tarzan and the Leopard Men]]'' (1935) *''[[Tarzan's Quest]]'' (1935, 1936) *''[[Tarzan and the Forbidden City]]'' (1938) *''[[Tarzan the Magnificent (novel)|Tarzan the Magnificent]]'' (1936, 1937) *''[[Tarzan and the Foreign Legion]]'' (1947) *''[[Tarzan and the Tarzan Twins]]'' (1963, for younger readers) *''[[Tarzan and the Madman]]'' (1964) *''[[Tarzan and the Castaways]]'' (1965) *''[[Tarzan: the Lost Adventure]]'' (with [[Joe R. Lansdale]]) (1995) ===Pellucidar series=== {{main|Pellucidar}} *''[[At the Earth's Core (novel)|At the Earth's Core]]'' (1914) ([[Project Gutenberg]] Entry: [http://gutenberg.net/etext/545]) *''[[Pellucidar (novel)|Pellucidar]]'' (1923) ([[Project Gutenberg]] Entry: [http://gutenberg.net/etext/605]) *''[[Tanar of Pellucidar]]'' (1928) ([[Project Gutenberg]] Entry: [http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0601061h.html]) *''[[Tarzan at the Earth's Core]]'' (1929) *''[[Back to the Stone Age]]'' (1937) *''[[Land of Terror]]'' (1944) *''[[Savage Pellucidar]]'' (1963) [[Image:Pirates of Venus.jpg|thumb|'''Book Cover:''' ''Pirates of Venus'']] ===Venus series=== {{main|Venus series}} *''[[Pirates of Venus]]'' (1934) *''[[Lost on Venus]]'' (1935) *''[[Carson of Venus]]'' (1939) *''[[Escape on Venus]]'' (1946) *''[[The Wizard of Venus]]'' (1970) ===Caspak series=== *''[[The Land That Time Forgot (novel)|The Land That Time Forgot]]'' (1918) ([[Project Gutenberg]] Entry: [http://gutenberg.net/etext/551]) *''[[The People That Time Forgot (novel)|The People That Time Forgot]]'' (1918) ([[Project Gutenberg]] Entry: [http://gutenberg.net/etext/552]) (AKA "People Out of Time") *''[[Out of Time’s Abyss]]'' (1918) ([[Project Gutenberg]] Entry: [http://gutenberg.net/etext/553]) ===Moon series=== <!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:Moon men.JPG|thumb|175px|[[The Moon Men]] - 1975 Tandem paperback edition. 219 pages]] --> *''[[The Moon Maid]]'' (1926) (aka ''The Moon Men'') ** ''Part I: The Moon Maid'', ''Part II: The Moon Men'' and ''Part III: The Red Hawk'' have been published in varying combinations. Like most of Burroughs fiction, they were originally published serially, but the original book version included all three under the title ''The Moon Maid''.<ref>[http://www.erbzine.com/mag7/0767.html ERBzine]</ref> ===Mucker series=== *''[[The Mucker (novel)|The Mucker]]'' (1914) ([[Project Gutenberg]] Entry: [http://gutenberg.net/etext/331]) *''[[The Return of the Mucker]]'' (1916) ([[Project Gutenberg]] Entry: [http://gutenberg.net/etext/331]) *''[[The Oakdale Affair]]'' (1917) ([[Project Gutenberg]] Entry: [http://gutenberg.net/etext/363]) ===Other science fiction=== *''[[Beyond the Farthest Star (novel)|Beyond the Farthest Star]]'' (1941) ([[Project Gutenberg|Project Gutenberg (AU)]] Entry: [http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0606081.txt]) *''[[Beyond Thirty|The Lost Continent]]'' (1916) (aka ''Beyond Thirty'') ([[Project Gutenberg]] Entry: [http://gutenberg.net/etext/149]) *''[[The Monster Men]]'' (1929) ([[Project Gutenberg]] Entry: [http://gutenberg.net/etext/96]) * ''[[The Resurrection of Jimber-Jaw]]'' (1937) ([[Project Gutenberg]] Entry: [http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0601241.txt]) ===Jungle adventure novels=== *''[[The Cave Girl]]'' (1925) *''[[The Eternal Lover]]'' (1925) (aka ''The Eternal Savage'') *''[[Jungle Girl (novel)|Jungle Girl]]'' (1932) (aka ''Land of the Hidden Men'') *''[[The Man Eater]]'' (1935) *''[[The Lad and the Lion]] (1938) ===Western novels=== *''[[Apache Devil]]'' (1933) *''[[The Bandit of Hell's Bend]]'' (1926) *''[[The Deputy Sheriff of Comanche County]]'' (1940) *''[[The War Chief (novel)|The War Chief]]'' (1927) ===Historical novels=== *''[[I am a Barbarian]]'' (1967) *''[[The Outlaw of Torn]]'' (1927) ([[Project Gutenberg]] Entry: [http://gutenberg.net/etext/369]) ===Other works=== *''[[The Efficiency Expert (novel)|The Efficiency Expert]]'' (1921) ([[Project Gutenberg]] Entry: [http://gutenberg.net/etext/3475]) *[http://www.strangeexcursions.com/tarzana ''Forgotten Tales of Love and Murder''] (2001) *''[[The Girl from Farris's]]'' (1916) *''[[The Girl from Hollywood]]'' (1923) *''[[The Mad King]]'' (1926) ([[Project Gutenberg]] Entry: [http://gutenberg.net/etext/364]) *''[[Marcia of the Doorstep]]'' (1999) *''[[Minidoka: 937th Earl of One Mile Series M]]'' (1998) *''[[Pirate Blood]]'' (1970) *''[[The Rider]]'' (1937) *''[[You Lucky Girl!]]'' (1999) ==Popular Culture== *In the video game ''[[Jurassic Park: Trespasser]]'' there is a statue of E. R. Burroughs, possibly as a reference to his novel ''[[The Land That Time Forgot (novel)|The Land That Time Forgot]]''. *In chapter 16 of [[Stephen King]]'s novel ''[[Desperation]]'' can be found the line "''The Farting Buzzards of Desperation''. Sounds like a goddam Edgar Rice Burroughs novel, doesn't it?" (Such adjective-noun-noun titles are actually a rarity among Burrough's novels; the closest analogue would be ''The Deputy Sheriff of Comanche County''.) *In the [[Mars Trilogy]] novels of [[Kim Stanley Robinson]] the original capitol city on Mars is named Burroughs as a sort of tribute. It is later flooded. *Season 1, Episode 29 of Disney's ''[[The Legend of Tarzan]]'' animated series, ''Tarzan and the Mysterious Visitor'', illustrates Burroughs as a struggling writer who travels to Africa in search of inspiration for a new novel (In reality, Burroughs never set foot in Africa). *The 1980 novel ''[[The Number of the Beast (novel)|The Number of the Beast]]'', by [[Robert A. Heinlein]] featured characters named [[Zebediah John Carter]], [[Jacob Burroughs]], and [[Dejah Thoris Burroughs]] in homage to Burroughs' Mars novels. Among other things, these and the other main characters travel to various alternate universes, including [[Barsoom]], [[Land of Oz|Oz]] and [[Wonderland]]. ==See also== *[[Mars in fiction]] *[[Otis Adelbert Kline]] *[[Sword and planet]] *''[[John Carter of Mars (film)|John Carter of Mars]]'' film *[[Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.]] {{portal|United States Army|United States Department of the Army Seal.svg}} ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== {{wikisource author}} *[http://www.tarzan.com/ Tarzan.com] *[http://www.tarzan.org/ Tarzan.org] *[http://www.erbzine.com/ Edgar Rice Burroughs Web Museum and Weekly Online Fanzine] *{{gutenberg author|id=Edgar_Rice_Burroughs|name=Edgar Rice Burroughs}} *[http://gutenberg.net.au/plusfifty-a-m.html#burroughs Works by Edgar Rice Burroughs] at [http://gutenberg.net.au Project Gutenberg Australia] *[http://www.tarzan.org/official_biography_part1.html Official biography of Burroughs] *[http://scifan.com/writers/bb/BurroughsEdgar.asp Bibliography] on [[SciFan]] *[http://librivox.org/newcatalog/search_advanced.php?title=&author=burroughs%2C+edgar+rice&cat=&genre=&status=all&type=&language=&reader=&bc=&mc=&action=Search LibriVox Audiobook Recordings] *{{isfdb name|id=Edgar_Rice_Burroughs|name=Edgar Rice Burroughs}} *[[wikilivres:Edgar Rice Burroughs|Works by Edgar Rice Burroughs]] <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]] --> {{Persondata |NAME= Burroughs, Edgar Rice |ALTERNATIVE NAMES= |SHORT DESCRIPTION= American novelist |DATE OF BIRTH= {{birth date|1875|9|1|mf=y}} |PLACE OF BIRTH= [[Chicago]], [[Illinois]], [[United States]] |DATE OF DEATH= {{death date|1950|3|19|mf=y}} |PLACE OF DEATH= [[Encino, California]], [[United States]] }} {{DEFAULTSORT:Burroughs, Edgar Rice}} [[Category:1875 births]] [[Category:1950 deaths]] [[Category:Edgar Rice Burroughs|Edgar Rice Burroughs]] [[Category:California writers]] [[Category:American science fiction writers]] [[Category:Writers from Chicago]] [[Category:American fantasy writers]] [[Category:Phillips Academy alumni]] [[Category:Science Fiction Hall of Fame]] [[Category:People from Oak Park, Illinois]] [[Category:United States Army soldiers]] [[ast:Edgar Rice Burroughs]] [[bn:এডগার রাইস বারোজ]] [[br:Edgar Rice Burroughs]] [[cs:Edgar Rice Burroughs]] [[da:Edgar Rice Burroughs]] [[de:Edgar Rice Burroughs]] [[es:Edgar Rice Burroughs]] [[eo:Edgar Rice Burroughs]] [[fr:Edgar Rice Burroughs]] [[ga:Edgar Rice Burroughs]] [[gl:Edgar Rice Burroughs]] [[hr:Edgar Rice Burroughs]] [[it:Edgar Rice Burroughs]] [[he:אדגר רייס בורוז]] [[hu:Edgar Rice Burroughs]] [[mr:एडगर राइस बरोज]] [[nl:Edgar Rice Burroughs]] [[ja:エドガー・ライス・バローズ]] [[no:Edgar Rice Burroughs]] [[pl:Edgar Rice Burroughs]] [[pt:Edgar Rice Burroughs]] [[ro:Edgar Rice Burroughs]] [[ru:Берроуз, Эдгар Райс]] [[sk:Edgar Rice Burroughs]] [[sh:Edgar Rice Burroughs]] [[fi:Edgar Rice Burroughs]] [[sv:Edgar Rice Burroughs]] [[uk:Берроуз Едгар Райс]]