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MORE LOST WORDS OF ERB
By Fredrik Ekman
This text, along with some of the referenced articles by Burroughs, was originally published in ERB-APA #153.
Edgar Rice Burroughs produced copious amounts of text
during his life, not only his 80-something books, but also letters, poetry,
articles, advertising, propaganda, and more.
Many of these items have been published, for example
in the correspondence collection Brother Men (edited by Matt Cohen),
the newspaper/magazine text collection Edgar Rice Burroughs Tells All
(edited by Jerry Schneider), and not least on ERBzine.
But much still is to be found out there, in particular in the ERB, Inc. archives, but also in the wild: letters that remain in private collections, items that have only seen (re)print in some obscure fanzine, and items to be found in old newspapers. To find some of these texts, I took a dive into newspapers.com, the world’s largest digital newspaper collection with incredible over one billion newspaper pages archived.
I focused mainly on two areas: newspaper texts by ERB that had not previously been published in either Edgar Rice Burroughs Tells All or ERBzine, and portions of texts known to be missing from Edgar Rice Burroughs Tells All.
I tried to find items signed by Edgar Rice Burroughs under his own name, but it is nearly impossible to sort out the texts from the many other hits on the ERB name. By focusing on newspapers and years when he was known to publish several other texts, however, I managed to score some hits.
When it comes to the incomplete texts in Edgar Rice Burroughs Tells All, I can recall two such, and I managed to find them both.
I also had some luck with texts published under the pen name “Normal Bean” (wich was corrupted as “Norman Bean” for his first pulp publication). I found two “unknown” texts, and an illustration that may or may not be by ERB himself for a previously known text. Since there is a lot of noise in these searches (the original idiom “normal bean” (meaning ‘a sane mind’), or “normal bean production this year”, for example), I only searched the three states where Burroughs lived the longest: Illinois, California and Hawaii.
Burroughs used many other pen names during the course of his career, and it is also known that he sometimes chose to publish himself anonymously. It can therefore be assumed that many more texts remain out there. In addition, many newspapers have still not been digitally archived, or are hidden behind pay walls.
What I Found
Chicago Tribune, 14 October 1910
“Hooks for Men!”
Poem
~ Written as Normal Bean.
*** “Nay, It Hath Not Gone.”
Poem: Written as Normal Bean. This text was previously published in Edgar Rice Burroughs Tells All and ERBzine,
but it was originally published with an illustration, which is herewith submitted.
Was this illustration drawn by Burroughs himself or by an anonymous staff artist? This, we may never know.
*** “Must Fight or Run Out”
Poem ~ Written as Normal Bean.
The Van Nuys News, 19 September 1922
“Tarzana One-Acre Residence Sites And Business Lots” ~ Advertisement
“Some Witnesses Say Hickman Crazy, Others Sane, Take Your Choice” ~ Essay
Published by the Los Angeles Examiner (titled “Thrust at Alienists Made by Burroughs” ERBzine) on the same date,
but the relevant year for that paper was not (yet) at newspapers.com when I searched there.
The Examiner text has been reprinted in Edgar Rice Burroughs Tells All and at ERBzine;
however, in the former publication, the text ends:
“The ninth day of the Hickman trial has passed and with each succeeding day, [unable to read my copy of article]” (3rd ed., p. 120).
The same text at ERBzine ends just before that quote, suggesting Edgar Rice Burroughs Tells All was ERBzine’s source.
ERBzine does not acknowledge the text as incomplete, for it actually continues for another 80+ words.
The final section of the article, including the missing words, is submitted under the title “Most Sincere”.
“Calling All Colossal Encephala!” ~ Letter to the editor
This was in response to a comment made by the editor upon a letter to the editor
that Burroughs wrote, published on 5 May 1941 (Edgar Rice Burroughs Tells All, 3rd ed., p. 224).
“Oahu: Singapore Or Wake?” ~ Debate
Partly quoted at https://erbzine.com/mag0/0001.html
“Don’t Let ‘Em Kid You, Joe” ~ Debate
Partly quoted at https://erbzine.com/mag0/0001.html
“All That Counts” ~ Essay
“Moving of Army Unit In Dark Described” ~ War
“Unsung Fleet Oilers Carrying Ball For Navy Invasion Team” ~ War
Reprints in Edgar Rice Burroughs Tells All and at dantonburroughs.com both miss out 15 words.
https://www.erbzine.com/mag17/1757.html#unsungfleetoilers
