Tarzan is a series of 24 adventure novels written by Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875–1950) and published between 1912 and 1966.
Edgar Rice Burroughs was born on September 8, 1875, in Chicago, the fourth child of Civil War veteran and businessman George Tyler Burroughs and Mary Evaline Burroughs. His middle name, "Rice," was named after his paternal grandmother, Mary Coleman Rice Burroughs. His family was not a noble family, but they were among the notable families in the region. He belonged to a family of English roots that had lived in North America since the beginning of the colonial period. Edgar Rice often emphasized this affiliation. “I can trace my ancestry back to Deacon Edmund Rice,” he stressed. His view of family origins was more of a romanticized view. After studying at various local schools, Burroughs enrolled at Philips Academy in Massachusetts, and then at Michigan Military Academy. He graduated from it in 1895, failing the entrance exam to the United States Military Academy at West Point. In 1897, he was diagnosed with a heart condition and was discharged.
What are 4 facts about Edgar Rice Burroughs?
Below, we've collected some interesting facts about the author to clear the air.
* He was immensely prolific. Burroughs wrote nearly 80 books, including 26 Tarzan stories.
* Beside money, he had a peculiar motive for writing.
* He was a shrewd marketing mind.
* He was a war correspondent.
After this point, young Edgar Rice, struggling with financial difficulties and unemployment, turned to various jobs. During the Chicago Influenza Epidemic of 1891, he worked half a year as a cowboy on his brother's farm. In 1899, he worked at his father's battery factory in Chicago, and when his condition improved, he married his childhood sweetheart, Emma Hulbert, in January 1900. In 1903, he got a job as a manager at the mineral exploration company Sweetser-Burroughs. When that mining business failed, the owner was placed in a new job on the Oregon Short Rail Railroad by the Pocatello farmers, George and Harry. He resigned from this job in October 1904.
If there is one thing American literature has in common, it is that they see writing as a career. Edgar Rice Burroughs was of the same opinion. Edgar Rice, who was trying to make a living by selling pencil sharpeners in 1911, turned to write when he realized that he could not afford this job for his wife and 2 children. He had been working in this business for 7 years and all he got was very small sums. During this period, the writer had a lot of free time, which he devoted to reading fiction magazines.
Edgar Rice Burroughs (September 1, 1875 – March 19, 1950) was an American writer, best known for his prolific output in the adventure, science fiction, and fantasy genres. Best-known for creating the characters Tarzan and John Carter, he also wrote the Pellucidar series, the Amtor series, and the Caspak trilogy.
“Pulp” magazines were a type of magazine that was seen as entertainment for women, youth, and children rather than literature. That's why Burroughs chose to use the pseudonym "Norman Bean" to protect his public reputation. The first story the author sold was the story "Under the Moons of Mars", which was serialized in The All-Story magazine between February and July 1913. This was also the first story in the Barsoom series. Burroughs received royalties of $400 for the story, the equivalent of $10,000 in today's terms. Edgar Rice, who finally saw that he was holding the seams in writing, continued to walk on this path.
There were the Barsoom series, which he wrote in the science fiction genre, set on the planet Mars, and the Amtor series, which took place on Venus. The names of the series, Barsoom was the fictional name of Mars, and Amtor was the fictional name of Venus. With this method, he tried to add reality to the stories by producing fictional words for the natives of the planets. He handled the lost island fiction, which is very popular both in mythology and in the conspiracy theories of the period, in the Caspak series. He also wrote the Pellucidar series, which leans on the theory based on the assumption that the Earth is hollow and which is called the Empty Earth Theory, and focuses on the journey to the center of the Earth. His writings were mostly fiction based on popular science and the history of his time. These fictions, which were popular with readers, allowed them to be easily accepted and sold in magazines. He also wrote historical romance novels. When he died, he left behind 80 novels written in various genres.
Undoubtedly the most famous of all his fiction was Tarzan. In the first days of its release, it caused quite a stir and a cultural sensation. Seeing the character's potential, Burroughs tried to use it in every field. It quickly launched cartoons, comics, movies, books, and all sorts of commercial commodities. Market experts said that seeing Tarzan appear in many media at the same time will lead to covert competition between these media, and some products will not sell. But Burroughs didn't listen to them, and he was right. There was a Tarzan frenzy among the people and they wanted everything about Tarzan wherever they were. He was the highest-paid author from adaptations at the time of his death, making over $2 million in total from 27 Tarzan films.
Burroughs, whose financial situation soon improved, founded Edgar Rice Burroughs, INC. in 1923 and began to publish and sell his books under this brand. Today, although the copyright of the author has expired, the naming rights of the Tarzan character still belong to this company.
Last Years
Burroughs was in his late sixties when Pearl Harbor was attacked, yet he applied for and was hired as a war correspondent. He was also recognized as one of America's oldest war correspondents. After the war ended, Encino returned to California. On March 9, 1950, Burroughs, who was suffering from many diseases and was quite old, died here of a heart attack.
https://www.edgarriceburroughs.com/