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Volume
0051
A
TIME LINE OF ERB's "OTHER BURROUGHS"
Compiled
by Bill Hillman
A life history of "OB - the
Other Burroughs"--
The Edgar Rice Burroughs
gleaned from
prologues, introductions,
forewords, and the novels themselves
1855
[A PRINCESS OF MARS]
* Born in Virginia
1860
* First recollections of meeting his great-uncle
Captain Jack Carter.
(PoM Foreword) "My first recollection of Captain Carter is of the
few months he spent at my father's home in Virginia, just prior to the
opening of the civil war. I was then a child of but five years."
Early Years:
* Raised on his parents' plantation near
Richmond, Virginia. Probably much of
the family fortune, land holdings, horses and stock of slaves were lost
during the war.
1870s
* OB, in partnership with his father, built
up a string of general stores throughout the state.
1886 [A PRINCESS
OF MARS]
* Inherited a fortune from Uncle Jack.
* Received Uncle Jack's manuscript describing
his strange adventures on
Mars (Barsoom).
* Received Uncle Jack's Will that specified
that his manuscript was
not to be unsealed until 1897 and its contents not divulged to the
rest of the world until 1907.
* OB disregarded instructions and opened
the manuscript and released
it in book form soon after.
1855 circa 1900
* Resided at the old homestead (two hours
by rail from Richmond)
1898
Richmond [GODS OF MARS]
* The first of many visits from John Carter.
Carter related the story
of how he returned to Barsoom to rescue Dejah Thoris and become
Warlord of Mars.
1910[OUTLAW
OF TORN - TARZAN OF THE APES]
* Visited Europe with his wife to carry
out research at an old
monastery to obtain material for an historical novel set in England
during the reign of Henry III.
* Obtained documents and evidence from the
British Colonial Office
in London concerning circumstances leading to the death of
John Clayton, Lord Greystoke, and the birth of his son, the
future Tarzan of the Apes.
1913 [ETERNAL
LOVER - SON OF TARZAN - AT THE EARTH'S CORE]
* Guest of Lord Greystoke (Tarzan) at the
Greystoke estate in British
East Africa in 1913, during the corresponding visit of Barney and
Victoria Custer of Beatrice, Nebraska.
* Moved on to North Africa to hunt lions,
and stopped off at a small
west coast port to visit another friend, Herr Skopf, proprietor
of a local hotel
* Came upon the Sahara Desert camp of David
Innes and his captive
Mahar from Pellucidar. Innes related the story of his adventures
at the Earth's core.
* Travelled to London to obtain supplies
for Innes. Returned to Algeria
with books, weapons and supplies but was recalled to America on
important business before contacting the young New Englander again.
1914
* Returned to the Sahara where he searched
unsuccessfully, for months,
for the Innes camp.
1916
[AN AUTO-BIOGRAPHY]
* ERB and his wife and three children embarked
on a cross-USA
automobile safari in which they drove from their home in Oak Park,
Illinois to Los Angeles, California, camping most of the way.
1916?
[THUVIA, MAID OF MARS]
* Moved to California where he bought a
ranch which he called Tarzana,
in honour of his friend, Lord Greystoke.
* Visited by John Carter who told of the
romance between Carthoris
(Son of John Carter and Dejah Thoris) and Thuvia of Ptarth.
1916[PELLUCIDAR]
* Returned to North Africa in response to
a letter from Cogden Nestor
who had found a telegraph instrument buried in the sand. With the
help of English telegrapher, Frank Downes, they talked to Innes
for two months.
1917
Summer [THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT]
* Vacationed in Greenland (on the advice
of his doctor). Retrieved a
thermos bottle from the ocean with a message from Bowen Tyler
who was marooned on the unknown South Pacific island of Caspak
* Journeyed to Tyler's home in Santa Monica
from where he sailed on
the yacht Toreador with Tom Billings.
* His mission to find Caspak and to rescue
Tyler and his companions was a success.
1917 or 1918? [CHESSMEN
OF MARS]
* Visited by John Carter who narrated the
adventures of his daughter, Tara.
1918 [TANAR
OF PELLUCIDAR]
* Developed a friendship with his Tarzana
neighbour, Jason Gridley who
was an inventive genius. By means of Gridley's radio invention they
were able to contact Abner Perry in Pellucidar and receive accounts
of inner world happenings.
Post WWI - 1918+ [TARZAN
THE UNTAMED - TARZAN THE TERRIBLE]
* Visited Lord and Lady Greystoke (London
or African Estate) and learned
of their war-time and Pal -ul-don adventures.
1925 [MASTERMIND
OF MARS]
* John Carter visited and delivered a letter
from Ulysses Paxton
(now Vad Varo of Barsoom)
1927 or 1928 [FIGHTING
MAN OF MARS]
* While operating the Gridley Wave device
in Jason's absence
(on an expedition to Pellucidar), OB was in direct communication
with Paxton on Barsoom)
1930 [PIRATES
OF VENUS]
* OB and his secretary Ralph Rothmund, met
Carson Napier, a restless,
wealthy adventurer. Napier took off for Mars but his rocket landed
on Venus. OB was Napier's only contact (via mental telepathy) and
described his adventures on Amtor in a series of Venus novels.
Early 1930s
* In an attempt to escape the boring social
engagements and business
pressures back in California, OB acquired a cabin near the headwaters
of the Little Colorado River in the White Mountains of Arizona.
* OB's R&R visits to the wilderness
cabin gave him an opportunity to explore
the deserted canyons and cliffs where lay ruined cities of a long-dead
race.
This was also the area once roamed by the great Apache Chief, Geronimo
and John Carter over 50 years ago.
1934[SWORDS
OF MARS]
* John Carter visited the Arizona cabin
and related more tales of Barsoom
1938
[SYNTHETIC MEN OF MARS]
* OB contacted Barsoom via Gridley Wave
and learned of Dejah's serious
injury and Carter's desperate attempts to secure the services of the
master surgeon, Ras Thavas.
1940 [LLANA
OF GATHOL]
* OB, now 85 years old, vacationed on Oahu,
Hawaii. Here he received his
last known visit from John Carter. Carter relates the adventures of
his granddaughter, Llana.
1940 [TANGOR
RETURNS]
* While at Oahu, phantom fingers on his
typewriter wrote of Poloda, a
planet one-half million light years from Earth, and of the adventures
of a transplanted Earthman known as Tangor.
1940? [SKELETON
MEN OF JUPITER]
* While at Oahu, OB probably received Gridley
Wave transmissions
relating the story of Carter's adventures on Jupiter. Unfortunately,
contact was broken before all the facts had been received.
1967 [THE
MOON MAID]
* OB (age 112) who has been head of the
US Bureau of Communications
for many years, takes an airliner to Paris on undisclosed business.
This is at the end of the great conflict that has been raging, on and off,
since 1914 and the masses are celebrating the peace while governments
are trying to bring affairs back to normal.
1968
[THE MOON MEN (in Argosy)]
* Hunting expedition to Herschel Island
in the Arctic to hunt polar bears.
1969
March [THE MOON MEN (in Argosy)]
* Rescued from an ice flow and a wounded
polar bear by a cruiser of the
newly-formed International Peace Fleet. The ship had been instructed
to find OB by the President of the United States as the Secretary of
Commerce had died suddenly and Edgar Rice Burroughs had been
offered the post. The 114-year-old Burroughs accepted the position.
|
The Novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs,
and the works of Roy, Cazedessus, Day, Fenton, Heins, Huckenpohler, Lupoff,
Purges, Zeuschner, et al.
|
Since no
more has been heard of Edgar Rice Burroughs since 1969, it can only be
assumed that he is visiting his many friends on other worlds: Pellucidar,
Barsoom, Amtor, or beyond...
We await his
return.
Another Biographical Timeline
by yet Another OB
Adapted from an Autobiographical Sketch by Edgar Rice Burroughs
* Born in Peking (his father was military advisor
to the Empress of China)
* Moved to USA at 10 years of age (his knowledge
of Chinese would serve him well
later in life as he pursued studies in Chinese philosophy and ceramics)
* Kidnapped and held by gypsies for
three years but eventually escaped during
a storm by stabbing his captor Pedro through the heart
* Grateful parents took him on a year-long
tour of Europe during which they
provided him with a tutor to facilitate his education
* Entered Yale upon his return to the US
where he won heavyweight boxing
and wrestling championships as well as captaining the football team
* Graduated from Yale summa cum laude
* Attended Oxford for two years.
* Returned to the US and enlisted in the
army where he earned the rank of
second lieutenant
* Posted to the 7th Cavalry where his first
active service was with Custer
* Sole survivor of the battle of the Little
Big Horn, escaping detection by being
pinned between two rocks under the carcass
of a horse.
* Arrested for impersonating an officer
when he reached an army post after
having eluded
Indians for six weeks (he had been officially declared dead
after the battle and army regulations
were unbending)
* Compelled to change his name to Edgar
Rice Burroughs and start a new life
* Fought Apaches in Arizona
* Accepted a request from Henry M. Stanley
inviting him to join his expedition to
Africa in search of Dr. Livingstone
* Anomynously donated 500,000 dollars to
the expedition
* Became separated from Stanley's relief
party and was captured by
Tippoo Tib's Arabs
* Captured by a tribe of cannibals after
having escaped from the Arabs
* Held by the cannibals for three years
who worshipped him as a god
because of his long golden hair and beard
* Learned the language of a group of large
intellegent anthropoid apes who were
also held captive (This was to stand
him in such good stead when he later
decided to record his experiences in
the form of fiction.)
* Escaped to the coast where he shipped
before the mast on a windjammer
bound for China
* Surviving a wreck off the coast of Asia,
he eventually made his way overland
to Russia, where he enlisted in the imperial
cavalry
* Saved the Czar from assassination by an
anarchist and as a reward was made
a captain in the imperial bodyguard
* Married a lady-in-waiting to the Czarina
* Moved back to the USA - Chicago - after
having been willed 8 million dollars
by his grandfather
* Now a very wealthy man, he took up writing
as a pastime
* Moved to Tarzana, Southern California
where they raised 11 children,
17 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren.
Mr. Burroughs has often claimed that fame
is nothing to him and that he feels he has lived a rather boring existence
with too few adventures to be of interest to anyone.
He insists that he finds his greatest happiness
in being alone with his violin.
BILL
HILLMAN
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