TARZAN AT THE EARTH'S CORE - 1930
Written
Jun to Nov 1923
ERB's working title
Tarzan and Pellucidar
First published
Blue Book magazine, Sep 1929 to Mar 1930
Magazine title
Tarzan at the Earth's Core
First hardcover edition
Metropolitan Books, Nov 1930
Book illustrator
J Allen St John
Filmed
1996 features Tarzan in Pellucidar
BACKGROUND
ERB had first created the fascinating world of Pellucidar back in 1914 when At the Earth's Core first appeared in serial form in All-Story magazine.  He had already written one Pellucidar sequel, called simply Pellucidar, in 1915.  The theme had lain dormant for fourteen years when Ed devised an ambitious plan for a Pellucidar revival in response to numerous requests from his readers.  In July 1928 he wrote Edwin Balmer, editor of Blue Book, that he was about to write "two closely interwoven Pellucidar stories" and that one would be a Tarzan story.  The Tarzan story, he told Balmer, would be a "sequel" to the new Pellucidar story.  Tanar of Pellucidar, which again featured David Innes and Abner Perry, appeared in Blue Book from March to August 1929.  Tarzan at the Earth's Core, for which Balmer paid $8,000, was published in the same magazine from September 1929 to March 1930.  Metropolitan Books released the hardcover novel in November 1930, which was once again graced with the gorgeous illustrations of J Allen St John. (Porges)

PLOT
David Innes was a captive in Pellucidar, the strange world within a world that lay under Earth's crust.  To rescue him, Tarzan came into that savage, prehistoric land at the head of an expedition equipped with every modern device.  But Pellucidar was not like the jungles the ape-man knew.  Here were sabre-toothed tigers and every savage creature from the beginning of the time.  Here the horizon curved back on itself and the sun was always in the middle of the sky.  And now, for the first time, Tarzan was hopelessly lost in a land teeming with unknown, gigantic killers... where even time had no meaning! (1980 Ballantine paperback edition)
SOURCES
• Edgar Rice Burroughs: The Man Who Created Tarzan by Irwin Porges, 1975, Brigham Young University Press
COVERS
• Edward Mortelmans' cover from 1959 Four Square Books paperback edition is from my personal collection
• J Allen St John cover from the dustjacket of the 1930 Metropolitan Books hardcover edition was pilfered from an eBay item
• Pierre Joubert cover from 1982 French Temps Futurs edition was pilfered from an eBay auction item
• Frank Frazetta cover from 1963 Ace paperback edition is from my personal collection
LYNX
• The full text of this novel is available on-line from Project Guttenburg's Tarzan at the Earth's Core page
• Read a summary of this novel at Tangor's Tarzan at the Earth's Core Summarized page
• Colourful paperback covers are at Nick Knowles' Tarzan at the Earth's Core page
CAPTURE
• Bag yourself a copy of this novel at Amazon.com's Tarzan at the Earth's Core 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