FROM TARZAN’S JUNGLES TO JOHN CARTER’S MARS, THE AUTHOR’S FANTASTIC WORLDS COME ALIVE IN ORIGINAL ARTWORK, INSCRIBED FIRST EDITIONS AND MORE
By Samantha Sisler
Edgar Rice Burroughs may be heralded as the creator of Tarzan, who debuted more than a century ago in the pages of The All-Story, but the Chicago-born writer’s creative pursuits and literary accomplishments extend far beyond those of the orphaned child who became the Ape Man. Likewise his interests and influence reach beyond the jungles of Africa; they include the universes he created for John Carter of Mars, the inhabitants of Pellucidar, the people and creatures of Venus and the vast expanse of worlds imagined for numerous stand-alone stories.
Burroughs in Tarzana, California, in 1937
On April 25, a century after Tarzan of the Apes was first published in book form, Heritage will hold The World of Edgar Rice Burroughs Rare Books Signature® Auction featuring more than 120 lots – many of which have never been publicly offered and some of which come from Burroughs’ collection, including his dual-edged knife used in the 1929 film Tarzan and the Tiger and the Gothic library table famously seen in numerous photos of the writer at his Tarzana, California, home.
April 25, 2024
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But the event could just as easily have been titled The Worlds of Edgar Rice Burroughs. The realms he created, inhabited and explored have been brought to life by the illustrations of such artists as James Allen St. John; Burroughs’ youngest son, John Coleman Burroughs; and the author’s nephew, Studley Oldham Burroughs – all of whom are represented by significant works offered in this first-of-its-kind auction.
Indeed, St. John’s deft brush graces the cover of the catalog for this event, which boasts two original oil paintings by the artist that were turned into iconic dust jackets for Swords of Mars, starring John Carter, and Tarzan’s Quest.
The original dust jacket illustration by James Allen St. John for Burroughs’ 1936 novel ‘Swords of Mars’ is one of the centerpiece offerings in Heritage’s April 25 The World of Edgar Rice Burroughs auction.
Like Tarzan, Swords of Mars was first unsheathed in the pages of a magazine: Blue Book, which, from November 1934 to April 1935, ran the science-fiction thriller as a six-part serial. When it finally hit bookshelves in February 1936, Swords of Mars was published by Edgar Rice Burroughs Inc., which the author created to keep control of his characters (and the money they made). St. John, a commercial illustrator who’d moved to storytelling at the turn of the century, began collaborating with Burroughs in 1915 on Tarzan Tales.
Burroughs was enamored of St. John’s ability to bring his stories to life, to make his characters leap off the page and into the popular consciousness. St. John made readers – and, for that matter, Burroughs – believe this is what life was like on Mars. The author wrote in a May 1920 missive to the artist, “I think you visualize the characters and scenes precisely as I did. If I could do the sort of work you do I would not change a line in any of the drawings. … Each picture reflects the thought and interest and labor that were expended upon it, and so I wish not only to congratulate you but to thank you for helping to make a book which would sell on the strength of the illustrations alone, regardless of the text.”
St. John’s 1936 dust jacket illustration for ‘Tarzan’s Quest’ hails from Burroughs’ personal collection.
St. John’s artwork for the dust jacket that wrapped the first edition of Swords of Mars became the definitive rendering of that tale. The same holds for his dust jacket artwork for Tarzan’s Quest, another Blue Book serial also published as a novel in 1936 – and the last Tarzan story to feature the Ape Man’s wife, Jane, as a significant character. Of course, she’s on the cover in her final star turn in the long-running series.
There are also interior illustrations by St. John, including an original pen-and-ink drawing depicting the colony of apes from 1917’s The Son of Tarzan. None of these works has ever been available at auction.
Here, also, are works by Burroughs’ youngest son, John Coleman Burroughs. John Coleman followed in his father’s footsteps – first by illustrating Edgar’s later publications and eventually by writing his own. This auction features several of his illustrations – including the dust jacket for 1948’s Llana of Gathol – and a saber-toothed tiger bronze that bears an inscription on its base: “To my father with the greatest love and admiration, John Coleman Burroughs, December 1934.”
This original ink-on-paper drawing of the final design for Burroughs’ custom bookplate, featuring Tarzan holding the planet Mars, was created by his nephew, Studley Oldham Burroughs.
Edgar – or “O.B.,” as he often signed his books for his children, meaning “Old Burroughs” – was an illustrator in his own right, and this auction features three of his political cartoons. But one of the event’s centerpieces hails from his nephew, Studley Oldham Burroughs: the original drawing of the final design for Edgar’s custom bookplate, which, in a single image, summarizes the vast expanse of world-building found throughout Edgar’s bibliography. The Library of Congress has in its archives a letter Edgar wrote to noted bookplate collector Ruthven Deane on February 4, 1922, in which the author details the elements incorporated into his nephew’s design.
“The central figure in the bookplate represents Tarzan,” Burroughs wrote. “He is holding the planet Mars, above which are the two Martian satellites. These because of my Martian series of stories. Grasping his legs is one of the great apes, among which Tarzan was reared. In the background are characters from several of my other stories. The crossed quill and sabre refer respectively to my writing and to my service in the United States Cavalry. These are again referred to in the shield in the spurred boot and the open volume. The steer’s skull in the upper right hand quarter of the shield represents the time I spent in Idaho riding for a cow outfit. In the lower left hand quarter the automobile wheel refers to my love of motoring. Below the shield are my nephew’s initials. My nephew designed this bookplate at my request, but entirely without any suggestions from me. Altogether it seems to me an unusually interesting piece of work.”
It’s also an unusually interesting piece of work that collectors have never before had an opportunity to own.
A first edition, first state copy of ‘Tarzan of the Apes’ from 1914
A first edition, first printing of 1928’s ‘Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle’
Much of this auction comprises what must surely be one of the largest – if not the largest – assortment of inscribed Edgar Rice Burroughs books to come up for auction at one time. Not only does this auction include more than 80 books inscribed by their author, but almost all have significant personal associations, as the author was intensely proud of his children, siblings and extended family.
Numerous books are inscribed to Burroughs’ eldest son, Hulbert; a few to his daughter, Joan; almost 50 to John Coleman, including a first edition, first state copy of Tarzan of the Apes from 1914 in which he writes, “To My son John Coleman Burroughs, Long may he wave, with all good good wishes from the head waver, Edgar Rice Burroughs, May [but March] 14, 1950.” Other family recipients include his close friend (and eventual brother-in-law), Eddie Gilbert; his mother-in-law, Maude; and his brothers.
Perhaps most uncommon amongst the books are the 15 titles with original (and humorous) drawings by Burroughs, all for his sons Hulbert and John Coleman. Among their delightful lot is a first edition, first printing of 1928’s Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle presented to John, whom Burroughs called Jack, in which the man who created the lord of the jungle drew himself as an old man walking with a cane – made, perhaps, from a branch on which Tarzan used to swing.
SAMANTHA SISLER is Manager of Specialty Collections Auctions at Heritage Auctions.