Raymond A. Cuthbert Comments ERB-APA #41: A Reply

Glad you are keeping up with my and Alan's chronology duel. You can bet it is nowhere at the end. Please keep in mind that it is a friendly discussion of ERB research. Alan is serious in his beliefs and I am serious about mine, but it is all in enjoyment and entertainment only.

ERB-APA #41

Now for assumptions. Personally, assumptions don't bother me in the least as long as they agree with the provided information of ERB, the author. It is when the assumptions go against the provided information of ERB, the author, that gets me. Let me give four quick examples.

1. Alan Hanson said I was overly bold by suggesting the Mangani and the gorillas were close on an evolutionary scale. And using a gorilla's time growth to track Gazan's growth is a mere assumption. Maybe so, but every bite of information I supplied fits into the provided information of ERB, the author, without changing the presented storyline once.
2. Joe Ferrier suggested that Tarzan was thirteen and Jane fifteen when they met. Now that is an assumption that goes against ERB, the author's, provided information. If Joe would have used Tarzan being fifteen, as stated in The Return Of Tarzan, I could understand where he was coming from. I can find no ERB-provided evidence that suggests, or hints, that the two met so early. Joe's assumption changes the storyline as presented by ERB, the author.
3. Alan Hanson says the lunar eclipse did not occur in Jungle Tales Of Tarzan but was another kind of weather incident. This is an assumption I don't personally agree with, but one I could live with. ERB, the author's, storyline is debatably altered, but it is at least done so with cunning, thought, and direction.
4. Alan Hanson says that The Son Of Tarzan is merely fiction and does not belong in the Tarzan chronology. Now, this is an assumption that goes directly against ERB, the author's, provided information. Alan's theory drastically changes the presented storyline as told by ERB, the author.

You see Raymond. There are two kinds of assumptions. Assumptions that go along with ERB, the author's, provided information, and there are assumptions that go against ERB, the author's, provided information. I will always be on the side that remains closest to ERB, the authors, provided information, and never be afraid to challenge the other.

Tarzan Series

The two Edgar Rice Burroughs' are very real. 

1. Edgar Rice Burroughs is from Chicago, Illinois.
2. Edgar Rice Burroughs from Virginia is John Carter's great-nephew.

This is another major weakness of Alan's chronology. It does not use Edgar Rice Burroughs, the narrator.

ERB, The Narrator

About The Author

James Michael Moody is a lifelong fan and collector of Edger Rice Burroughs. Moody has contributed over two hundred articles to various ERB-related fanzines, over a span of forty-five years. He also manages an unauthorized Tarzan blog titled, Greystoke Chronologist: James Michael Moody. There the researcher chronologies the Tarzan books starting in May 1872 (known as the pushback theory).instead of the more excepted date May 1888.

James Michael Moody is also the author of the action-packed Sci-Fi fantasy adventure Unium series. Pioneers On Unium, published December 31, 2019, and Exiled On Unium, published August 25, 2022. Swordsman On Unium is going through the publishing process.