The Return of Tarzan First Edition

PRESENTING a GLORIOUSLY RARE BOOK …. The Return of Tarzan First Edition by Edgar Rice Burroughs Grosset & Dunlap 1st Edition.

First edition. Illustrated by J. Allen St. John. 1 vols. 8vo. The second book in the Tarzan series. Zeuschner 583 (noting titles in black) Red cloth titled in black. Good to fair copy (no dust jacket) (some soiling, especially to spine and cover) Illustrated by J. Allen St. John. 1 vols. 8vo. Published by Grosset & Dunlap, NY under copyright from McClurg, Chicago, 1915. First edition.

Original publishers red cloth, with black lettered title on upper board and flat spine. , Published June, 1914 with copyright by A.C.McClurg & Co. // 1915 , Size : Large 8vo, Illustrated with frontispiece by Fred Arting and printer’s device on title. , Signed free endpaper , P. Half-title, bl. (2), frontispiece, title, copyright note, dedication, bl., contents, bl., 1-392. In good condition; lacks dust jacket, lightly worn ends and corners; Previous owner’s label on inside of front cover … “Scotta Obenchain’ (the daughter of renowned Kentucky Author Eliza Calvert Hall Obenchain) . Grosset & Dunlap, publisher, c. 1915.

Tarzan of the Apes is a novel written by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the first in a series of books about the title character Tarzan. It was first published in the pulp magazine All-Story Magazine in October, 1912; the first book edition was published in 1914 by A.C. McClurg & Co in Chicago. The publisher was made famous by their original publishing of the Tarzan of the Apes novels and other stories of Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan of the Apes tells the story of Tarzan (“White Skin” in ape language) who is adopted as a baby by the she-ape Kala after his parents, the Lord and Lady Greystoke, pass away after being marooned in West Africa. Immediately popular, Burroughs continued the series into the 1940s with two dozen sequels, and the Tarzan character has been immortalized in books, films and television since. Tarzan was the first literary character to be registered in a trademark. Tarzan and the Castaways was the last finished story by Burroughs, the 24th in his series on Tarzan. In addition to the title novella, the book also includes two short stories about Tarzan. Tarzan: The Lost Adventure is a novel by American writer Joe R. Lansdale, based on an incomplete fragment of a Tarzan novel written by Edgar Rice Burroughs which had been left unfinished at his death. The book was serialized in four parts by Dark Horse Comics, before being published as a single volume in 1995

No dust jacket. Some water damage to cover and first couple of pages, but otherwise good. Back page slightly torn from spine.

Tarzan is a series of twenty-four adventure novels written by Edgar Rice Burroughs, followed by several novels either co-written by Burroughs, or officially authorized by his estate. There are also two works written by Burroughs especially for children that are not considered part of the main series.

The series is considered a classic of literature and is the author’s best-known work. Tarzan has been called one of the best-known literary characters in the world. Written by Burroughs between 1912 and 1965, Tarzan has been adapted many times, complete or in part, for radio, television, stage, and cinema. (It has been adapted for the cinema more times than any book)

Even though the copyright on Tarzan of the Apes has expired in the United States, the name Tarzan is still protected as a trademark of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. Also, the work remains under copyright in some other countries where copyright terms are longer.

Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarzan_(book_series)

The Return of Tarzan is a novel by U.S.American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs, the second in his series of twenty-four books about the title character Tarzan. It was first published in the pulp magazineNew Story Magazine in the issues for June through December 1913; the first book edition was published in 1915 by A. C. McClurg.

The novel picks up soon after where Tarzan of the Apes left off. The ape man, feeling rootless in the wake of his noble sacrifice of his prospects of wedding Jane Porter, leaves USA for Europe to visit his friend Paul d’Arnot. On the ship he becomes embroiled in the affairs of Countess Olga de Coude, her husband, Count Raoul de Coude, and two shady characters attempting to prey on them, Nikolas Rokoff and his henchman Alexis Paulvitch. Rokoff, it turns out, is also the countess’s brother. Tarzan thwarts the villains’ scheme, making them his deadly enemies.

Later, in France, Rokoff tries time and again to eliminate the ape man, finally engineering a duel between him and the count by making it appear that he is the countess’s lover. Tarzan deliberately refuses to defend himself in the duel, even offering the count his own weapon after the latter fails to kill him with his own, a grand gesture that convinces his antagonist of his innocence. In return, Count Raoul finds him a job as a special agent in the French ministry of war. Tarzan is assigned to service in Algeria.

A sequence of adventures among the local Arabs ensues, including another brush with Rokoff. Afterward Tarzan sails for Cape Town and strikes up a shipboard acquaintance with Hazel Strong, a friend of Jane’s. But Rokoff and Paulovitch are also aboard, and manage to ambush him and throw him overboard.

Miraculously, Tarzan manages to swim to shore, and finds himself in the coastal jungle where he was brought up by the apes. He soon rescues and befriends a native warrior, Busuli of the Waziri, and is adopted into the Waziri tribe. After defeating a raid on their village by ivory raiders, Tarzan becomes their chief.

The Waziri know of a lost city deep in the jungle, from which they have obtained their golden ornaments. Tarzan has them take him there, but is captured by its inhabitants, a race of ape-like men, and is condemned to be sacrificed to their sun god. To Tarzan’s surprise, the priestess to perform the sacrifice is a beautiful woman who speaks the ape language he learned as a child. She tells him she is La, high priestess of the lost city of Opar. When the sacrificial ceremony is fortuitously interrupted, she hides Tarzan and promises to lead him to freedom. But the ape man escapes on his own, locates a treasure chamber, and manages to rejoin the Waziri.

Meanwhile, Hazel Strong has reached Cape Town where she meets Jane and her father, Professor Porter, together with Jane’s fiancé, Tarzan’s cousin William Cecil Clayton. They are all invited on a cruise up the west coast of Africa aboard the Lady Alice, the yacht of another friend, Lord Tennington. Rokoff, now using the alias of M. Thuran, ingratiates himself with the party and is also invited along. The Lady Alice breaks down and sinks, forcing the passengers and crew into the lifeboats. The one containing Jane, Clayton and “Thuran” is separated from the others and suffers terrible privations. Coincidentally, the boat finally makes shore in the same general area that Tarzan did.

The three construct a rude shelter and eke out an existence of near starvation for some weeks until Jane and William Clayton are surprised in the forest by a lion. Clayton loses Jane’s respect by cowering in fear before the beast instead of defending her, but they are not attacked and discover the lion dead, speared by an unknown hand. Their hidden savior is in fact Tarzan, who does not reveal himself due to anger at seeing Jane still with Clayton. Tarzan renounces any dealings with other humans, abandons the Waziri, and rejoins his original ape clan. Jane breaks off her engagement to William.

Later Jane is kidnapped and taken to Opar by a party of the Oparian ape-men who were pursuing their escaped sacrifice, Tarzan. The ape man learns of her capture and tracks them, managing to save her from being sacrificed by La. La is crushed by Tarzan’s spurning of her for Jane. After searching for Jane, Clayton is incapacitated with a fever and Thuran abandons him to die. Thuran discovers the other survivors from the Lady Alice who came to shore only a few miles away. He tells them that he is the sole survivor of his lifeboat.

Tarzan and Jane return to Jane’s shelter, along the way encountering Busuli and a group of Waziri who have been searching for their king since he disappeared. At the shelter, Clayton is at the point of death. Before he dies, he reveals to Tarzan and Jane that he knows Tarzan is the true Lord Greystoke. Tarzan and Jane make their way up the coast to the former’s boyhood cabin so they can bury Clayton alongside his aunt and uncle. Here they encounter the remainder of the castaways of the Lady Alice, who have been recovered by D’Arnot in a French navy vessel. Tarzan exposes Thuran as Rokoff and the French arrest him.

Tarzan weds Jane and Tennington weds Hazel in a double ceremony performed by Professor Porter, who had been ordained a minister in his youth. Then they all set sail for civilization, taking along the treasure Tarzan had found in Opar. The Waziri receive gifts from the French and reluctantly accept the departure of their king.

Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Return_of_Tarzan