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Edgar Rice Burroughs papers, 1875-1950
2263
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Title: Edgar Rice Burroughs papers
Collection number: 2263
Contributing Institution:
UCLA Library Special Collections
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
12.6 linear feet
(9 record cartons, 4 document boxes, 2 flat storage boxes, 1 shoebox)
Date (bulk): Bulk, 1920-1945
Date (inclusive): 1875-1950
Abstract: This collection documents the activities and political opinions of Edgar Rice Burroughs. Burroughs was a California-based
science fiction and fantasy author. An outspoken political conservative, he created iconic characters like Tarzan and John
Carter. He was also the oldest US wartime correspondent in World War II, and advocated for Japanese Americans near the end
of the war. The collection spans from 1875 to 1950, and chronicles Burroughs’ time in California, Hawaii, and the greater
South Pacific.
Physical Location: Stored off-site at SRLF. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance through our electronic
paging system using the request button located on this page.
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in
advance through our electronic paging system using the request button located on this page.
Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use
Property rights to the physical object belong to the UCLA Library Special Collections. Literary rights, including copyright,
are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright
and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Some of the correspondence in Series 1 and 3 is torn or frayed on the edges. The audio cassettes and video cassette in Series
2 are of unknown quality and have not been digitally copied.
COLLECTION CONTAINS AUDIOVISUAL MATERIALS: Audiovisual materials in this collection require the production of reference surrogates.
To access audiovisual materials you must notify the reference desk in advance of your visit.
Edgar Rice Burroughs Papers (Collection 2263). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University
of California, Los Angeles.
UCLA Catalog Record ID:
7745478
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Purchase, 2014.
Processed by Melanie Jones in 2015 in the
Center for Primary Research and Training (CFPRT) , supervised by Jillian Cuellar. Many of the materials are in their original folders, and retain their original folder titles
and organization.
Edgar Rice Burroughs was born in Chicago, Illinois on September 1, 1875 to Civil War veteran Major George Tyler Burroughs
and Mary Evaline (Zieger) Burroughs. He graduated from the Michigan Military Academy in 1895, but failed the entrance exam
for the United States Military Academy (West Point). He became an enlisted soldier with the 7th US Cavalry in Fort Grant,
Arizona Territory. In 1897, he was diagnosed with a heart problem and honorably discharged. Burroughs married Emma Hulbert
in January 1900. They had three children: Joan (b. 1908), Hulbert (b. 1909), and John (b. 1913).
Burroughs began to write fiction in 1911. His first story, “Under the Moons of Mars,” was serialized in the February to July
1912 issues of
, under the pseudonym Norman Bean.
Tarzan of the Apes was published in October 1912, and quickly became a cultural sensation. Burroughs exploited the Tarzan brand through a comic
strip, movies, radio programs, and merchandise, to great success. In either 1915 or 1919, Burroughs purchased a large ranch
north of Los Angeles, California, which he named “Tarzana.” The citizens of the community that formed around the ranch adopted
the town name Tarzana in 1927. In 1923, he set up his own company, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. and began printing his own books
through the 1930s. He also began Burroughs-Tarzan Productions, an independent film studio.
Edgar Rice Burroughs divorced Emma Hulbert in 1934. In 1935 he married former actress Florence Gilbert Dearholt, the ex-wife
of his friend, Ashton Dearholt. Burroughs adopted the Dearholts’ two children. The couple divorced in 1942.
Burroughs was in Honolulu at the time of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. He applied for a reporting post, and became
one of the oldest U.S. war correspondents during World War II. Burroughs was a political conservative, suspicious of Japanese
Americans, and a strong critic of Roosevelt’s New Deal politics. Despite this, he advocated against the internment and deportation
of Japanese Americans during and after the war, arguing such actions went against the “Americanism” that made the nation great.
After the war ended, Burroughs moved back to California, and died of a heart attack on March 19, 1950. He wrote almost 80
novels, including the
Tarzan series, the
Barsoom series, and the
Pellucidar series. He is buried in Tarzana, Los Angeles County. He was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2003.
This collection documents the activities and political opinions of Edgar Rice Burroughs, the California-based science fiction
and fantasy author whose iconic characters include John Carter and Tarzan.
The collection spans from 1875 to 1950, with the bulk of materials coming from the 1920s-1940s, and is in chronological order.
It chronicles Burroughs’ time in California, Hawaii, and the broader South Pacific. In addition to professional materials,
including correspondence, press clippings, unpublished manuscripts, and reporting notebooks, the collection contains a large
quantity of personal material, such as letters to and from Burroughs, correspondence among his children, and reflections on
his time as a war correspondent during World War II.
Some of the significant topics represented in these files are: publishing concerns; innovations in media and advertising;
the Great Depression; the New Deal; local police; World War II; foreign relations; wartime journalism; the internment of Japanese
Americans; wartime rationing; the growth of the science fiction and fantasy genres; and censorship. The collection documents
Burroughs’ success as an author and businessman; his political conservatism; his advocacy for Japanese American rights; and
his wartime reporting; as well as his observational humor, close bond with his children, and thoughts on the entertainment
industry.
Materials are largely textual, comprising correspondence, financial and legal material, clippings, publications, and related
printed matter. Among other formats are photographs, negatives, and a small number of artifacts such as a video cassette,
nine audio cassettes, and ephemera.
The records are arranged in four series. The contents of each series are arranged either chronologically or by type.
This collection has been arranged in the following series:
- Series 1: Binders 1893-1950
- Series 2: Photographs and Other Media 1875-1950
- Series 3: Manuscripts and Notes 1908-1947
- Series 4: Books 1875-1964
Collection of Material about Japanese American Internment (Collection 131). Available at UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Collection of Material about World War II (Collection 502). Available at UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Burroughs, Edgar Rice, 1875-1950 -- Archives
Novelists, American--20th century--Archives.
- Collection Overview
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Collection Details
- Conditions Governing Access
- Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use
- Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
- Preferred Citation
- UCLA Catalog Record ID
- Provenance/Source of Acquisition
- Processing Information
- Biography/History
- Scope and Content
- Organization and Arrangement
- Related Material