TARZAN'S QUEST - 1936
Written
May 1934 to Jan 1935
ERB's working title
Tarzan and Jane
First published
Blue Book magazine, Oct 1935 to Mar 1936
Magazine title
Tarzan and the Immortal Men
First hardcover edition
ERB Inc, Sep 1936
Book illustrator
J Allen St John
Filmed
No, but the theme of eternal youth was used in
Tarzan's Magic Fountain (1949)
BACKGROUND
Jane had been conspicuously absent from Tarzan novels since Tarzan and the Golden Lion (1922), a period of 13 years.  ERB's marriage to Emma, his wife of over thirty years, was beginning to deteriorate because of her increasing reliance on alcohol and removing Tarzan's mate may have been his vicarious way of effecting an insoluble situation.  Jane returned with surprising vitality in this work, which Burroughs called Tarzan and Jane, and she displays a level of strength and resourcefulness never seen before.  Ed was in the process of becoming involved with the wife of Ashton Dearholt, one of the producers of The New Adventures of Tarzan, and it seems reasonable to assume that attractive, blonde Florence Dearholt, 28 years his junior, became Ed's inspiration for the revitalised Jane.  The story was again pitched to the prestige magazines but with no success and was eventually sold to Blue Book for $4,000.  This would be the last Tarzan book illustrated by J Allen St John who had illustrated fifteen Tarzan books over a twenty year period.  ERB's son, John Coleman Burroughs, an artist of considerable talent, would now take over the job of providing illustrations for his father's books. (Porges & Adams)
PLOT
Tarzan of the Apes had heard only rumors of the Kavuru - a race of strange white savages.  But when they stole the daughter of Muviro, chief of the Waziri, the Lord of the Jungle set out in search of their legend-shrouded village on a mission of rescue - or, if need be, of revenge.  He could not know that his trail ran close to that of a strange group of survivors of a crashed plane - including his beloved mate, Jane - who struggled for survival against the terrors of Africa and an even worse danger within their own party.  But the stranded Europeans and the ape-man were destined for a rendezvous of blood and fire - in the dreaded temple of the kavuru. (1980 Ballantine paperback)
SOURCES
• Edgar Rice Burroughs: The Man Who Created Tarzan by Irwin Porges, 1975, Brigham Young University Press
• See Duane Adams' comments on this book at the Tangor link below
COVERS
• Edward Mortelmans cover from the 1961 Four Square Books paperback edition is from my personal collection
• J Allen St John cover from the dustjacket of the 1936 ERB Inc hardcover edition was pilfered from an eBay auction item
• Boris Vallejo cover from the 1980 Ballantine Books paperback edition is from my personal collection
• G P Mickelwright cover from the dustjacket of the 1952 British Methuen hardcover edition was pilfered from an eBay auction item
LYNX
• The full text of this novel is available on-line from Project Guttenburg's Tarzan's Quest page
• Read a summary of this novel at Tangor's Tarzan's Quest Summarized page
• Colourful paperback covers are at Nick Knowles' Tarzan's Quest page
CAPTURE
• Bag yourself a copy of this novel at Amazon.com's Tarzan's Quest 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