TARZAN AND THE LOST EMPIRE - 1929
Written
Mar to May 1928
ERB's working title
Tarzan and the Lost Empire
First published
Blue Book magazine, Oct 1928 to Feb 1929
Magazine title
Tarzan and the Lost Empire
First hardcover edition
Metropolitan Books, Sep 1929
Book illustrator
A W Sperry
Filmed
The Lost Legion episode of Tarzan: the Epic Adventures on TV
BACKGROUND
Ed had frequently expressed his disdain for the tedious Latin courses he had endured during his school years.  However, time had modified his attitude and had given him a new perspective and he found himself researching ancient Rome with a new enthusiasm in preparation for his next Tarzan story.  Porges claims that it "is a work of unusual power and ingenuity", but adds that the incidents arranged alternatively in two kingdoms (Castrum Mare and Castra Sanguinarius) produces some confusion.  He also says that the need to provide a double resolution also creates an anticlimactic effect.  The story was serialised in Blue Book from October 1928 to February 1929 but ERB was not yet ready to launch his plans to begin publishing his own books (see Background - Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle).  Ed negotiated a book publication deal with Max Elser, of Metropolitan Newspaper Service, who had been distributing the Tarzan newspaper strip, and Metropolitan Books published the twelfth Tarzan novel.  A W Sperry provided the book illustrations, replacing the much-admired J Allen St John. (Porges)

PLOT
Somewhere in the heart of Africa, a man had disappeared - Erich Von Harben, son of an old friend of Tarzan of the Apes.  Now the ape-man was seeking to rescue him.  The trail led to a mysterious valley where Tarzan discovered two surviving outposts of ancient Rome, almost unchanged by time.  And there, Tarzan was thrust into the bloody arena, to face every peril the cruel and corrupt Emperor of Castra Sanguinarius could devise to ensure the ape-man's death.  Miles away in Castrum Mare, Erich Von Harben was also awaiting execution upon the sands of another tyrant's arena. (1981 Ballantine paperback)
SOURCES
• Edgar Rice Burroughs: The Man Who Created Tarzan by Irwin Porges, 1975, Brigham Young University Press
COVERS
• Frank Frazetta cover from 1962 Ace paperback edition is from personal collection
• Edward Mortelmans' cover from 1965 Four Square Books edition is from my personal collection
• A W Sperry cover from the dustjacket of the 1929 Metropolitan Books hardcover edition was pilfered from an eBay auction item
• Burne Hogarth cover from 1971 Dutch Westfriesland paperback edition was pilfered from an eBay auction item
LYNX
• The full text of this novel is available on-line from Project Guttenburg's Tarzan and the Lost Empire page
• Read a summary of this novel at Tangor's Tarzan and the Lost Empire Summarized page
• Colourful paperback covers are at Nick Knowles' Tarzan and the Lost Empire page
CAPTURE
• Bag yourself a copy of this novel at Amazon.com's Tarzan and the Lost Empire page or try eBay
Tarzan© is the property of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc., Tarzana CA.
This independent, non-profit, fan-based analysis of the Tarzan material is copyright © 2002-2007 Paul Wickham
This page updated July 2006