A Look At The Beasts Of Tarzan

Traditionaly chronologist have always followed Edgar Rice Burroughs, the author's, writing diary to establish the time frame in which the stories themselves occur. Anyone who studies ERB, the authors, writing habits quickly learns that ERB was a very swift writer and he never liked doing a rewrite. Another thing a student of ERB, the author, quickly learns is that when a series book ends the sequel picks up almost immediately. Thus. if we start a chronology with the jungle lord being born in 1888 as Tarzan Of The APES implies, then follow the writing diary of ERB, the author, we should have a pretty accurate time frame of the ape-man's life. The following is how a chronology would look using this approach.

ERB-APA #75

                                                        ERB BEGAN WRITING                                                        

The Outlaw Of Torn                                   Fall 1911  
Tarzan Of The Apes                                   Dec. 1, 1911    
The Return Of Tarzan                                Dec. 1912
The Eternal Lover                              Early Spring 1913
The Beasts Of Tarzan                               Jan. 7, 1914
The Son Of Tarzan                                    Jan. 21, 1915  

Tarzan Series

This is the basic framework of the 1888 chronologist. Although this list looks pretty logical on first observance it gets weak in a hurry if you compare it to the information provided in the books. Let us take a quick look so you can understand what I am talking about.

Tarzan Series

The Outlaw Of Torn                                    1240 - 1264        

Not officially part of the Tarzan series. The story is about some of his Greystoke ancestors.  

Tarzan Of The Apes                                    1888 - 1908        

John Clayton II was born in 1888. Tarzan Of The Apes ends when the ape-man is age 20

The Return Of Tarzan                                 1909 - 1910        

Tarzan was age 20 at The Return Of Tarzan's start. He was age 22 at its end.  

Jack/Korak born off stage.                          1911 or 1912

The exact date was never revealed. Jackie is described as being mobile and playing. Age 1 or 2.

The Eternal Lover                                 Early Spring 1913  

This story is not an official book of the Tarzan series. Victoria Custer and her brother Barney are big game hunting at the Greystoke ranch. Also visiting is John Carter's great-nephew aka The Narrator.

The Beasts Of Tarzan                                October 1913   

This adventure begins in early October when the rainy season in Portuguese Angola sets in. ERB began writing the story on January 7, 1914, so the rainy season of 1914 had not begun yet. Thus, this description has to be referring to the rainy season of 1913.   

             

The Son Of Tarzan                            before January 21, 1915  

As shown above, The Beasts Of Tarzan begins in October 1913, and the events are clearly completed within a year. At that time Jack/Jackie/ Korak was around a year old. Also at the end of The Beasts Of Tarzan Rokoff dies. Pulvitch takes Akut, the great ape, to London 10 years later. September 26, 1914, plus 10 at best is 1923. How could ERB be writing about 1923 events in 1915? He couldn't...

Tarzan Series

To confound matters, even more, is the exception to the rule when ERB, the author, in 1916 went backwards in Tarzan's life. Jungle Tales Of Tarzan covers a span of two years. The events occur just after Kala dies when the ape-man is age 18 and end just before meeting the Porters at age 20. You can not add a full two extra years of events into an 1888 chronology. It just doesn't fit. Therefore 1888 chronologists had to cut down the two years' worth of events into short stories and then splice them into Tarzan Of The Apes wherever they could. There is still a big problem with that practice. In Jungle Tales Of Taran, ERB clearly describes a lunar eclipse. There was no lunar eclipse in West Africa in 1908 or any time thereabouts.

Jungle Tales Of Tarzan

With this provided information it is quite obvious that the events of The Son Of Tarzan and the events of Jungle Tales Of Tarzan will not fit into an 1888 chronology as described by the author. It is quite obvious the story must be moved backward in time (known as the pushback theory) to allow for all the events to occur as ERB described. 

J. Allen St. John

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

James Michael Moody is a lifelong fan and collector of Edger Rice Burroughs. Over the past forty-five years, Moody has contributed over two hundred articles to various ERB-related fanzines. 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 accepted date, May 1888.

James Michael Moody also authorizes the action-packed Sci-Fi fantasy adventure Unium series. Pioneers On Unium, published December 31, 2019, Exiled On Unium, published August 25, 2022, and, Swordsman On Unium published on July 15, 2024.