Introduction To The Son Of Tarzan

Edgar Rice Burroughs the author from Chicago, Il. wrote The Son Of Tarzan between January 21, 1915, through May 11, 1915. The manuscript was first published in magazine form in All-Story Weekly as a six-part serial from December 4, 1915, through January 8, 1916. The jungle adventure was first published by A.C. McClurg & Co. in March 1917.

J. Allen St. John

In the book series, The Son Of Tarzan begins ten years after The Beasts Of Tarzan.  "Once on board the Marjorie W. the stranger told his rescuers a pitiful tale of privation, hardships, and torture, extending over a period of ten years." ERB-The Son Of Tarzan. "It had been ten years since the Russian had escaped the fate of his friend, the arch-fiend Rokoff, and not once, but many times during those ten years had Paulvitch cursed the fate that had given to Nicholas Rokoff death and immunity from suffering while it had meted to him the hideous terrors of an existence infinitely worse than the death that persistently refused to claim him." ERB-The Son Of Tarzan.

J. Allen St. John

1888 CHRONOLOGY (which is the most excepted)

• The Outlaw Of Torn
• Tarzan Of The Apes/Jungle Tales Of Tarzan
• The Return Of Tarzan
• The Beasts Of Tarzan
• The Eternal Lover
• The Son Of Tarzan
• The Man-Eater
• Tarzan And The Jewels Of Opar

J. Allen St. John

In an 1888 Tarzan chronology, the timeline of events excludes the occurrence of the lunar eclipse in Jungle Tales Of Tarzan for there are none. The events are now considered to be a group of short stories which you insert wherever you can. 

John Buscema

In an 1872 chronology, closer attention is paid to the stories provided descriptions than loyalty to any provided dates. If ERB, the narrator, is trying to protect the Greystoke's privacy, which is implied, it is only logical he altered things like dates, changed the names of boats and people, changed travel times, distances, locations, etc.

J. Allen St. John

In an 1872 chronology Tarzan Of The Apes, The Return Of Tarzan, The Beasts Of Tarzan, The Son Of Tarzan, Tarzan And The Jewels Of Opar, and Jungle Tales Of Tarzan are pushed back sixteen years to allow Korak's described development. The Eternal Lover which occurs in early spring 1913 and The Man-Eater which occurs July 10, 1914, gets back to the timeline in which ERB wrote them.

The Tarzan Series

1872 CHRONOLOGY (which is known as the pushback theory)

• The Outlaw Of Torn
• Tarzan Of The Apes/Jungle Tales Of Tarzan
• The Return Of Tarzan
• The Beasts Of Tarzan
• The Son Of Tarzan
• Tarzan And The Jewels Of Opar
• The Eternal Lover
• The MAN-EATER

The Tarzan Series

From past articles, we have learned that the events of Tarzan Of The Apes actually occurred sixteen years earlier (1872) than ERB, the narrator, revealed (1888). ERB did this on purpose to protect the privacy of the Greystoke's. For proof note that ERB, the narrator, also provides false travel distances for the hidden cities. He did this on purpose to protect those secret places from modern man. Also, note that when ERB is describing major rivers that we could use for charting he calls them by their native names, and not the more familiar names of map makers.

Sanjulian

As explained in my earlier article How Old Is Tarzan? we know that the events of Tarzan Of The Apes began in 1872 and ended when Tarzan was twenty in 1892. Also, the events of Jungle Tales Of Tarzan occur just after Tarzan turns eighteen and has just lost his mother in Tarzan Of The Apes. Jungle Tales Of Tarzan ends just before Tarzan, age twenty, sees the stranded Porter party and Tarzan Of The Apes continues. We have also learned that The Return Of Tarzan covers a span of two years. Tarzan marries Jane when he is twenty-two. Korak was born in London offstage in 1895. The Beasts Of Tarzan events occurred from July 28, through October 27. 1897. The big chronological clue in The Beasts Of Tarzan is Rokoff's death on October 25, 1897. That is important because The Son Of Tarzan reveals that its events begin ten years after Rokoff's death. Therefore The Son Of Tarzan events began approximately around October 25, 1907.

Frank Frazetta

If Tarzan was born in 1888; saw his first whites at age twenty (1908); married Jane at age twenty-two (1910); Korak was born offstage (1911). The events of The Beasts Of Tarzan cover a span of less than one year (1912), and The Son Of Tarzan begins ten years after Rockoff died in The Return Of Tarzan (1922). How could Korak fight in WWI in 1914 if the events of The Son Of Tarzan hadn't even occurred yet?

Boris Vallejo

There are a couple interesting tidbits I noticed in The Son Of Tarzan that I want to point out.

(1) Jack, spent a month-long vacation visiting the captured Akut, and instead of returning to school at the end of what must be the summer vacation, he ran away to Africa. English summer vacation starts late in July and lasts for six weeks, so Jack ran away in September. 

(2) "He learned, easily that the boy was traveling alone with his invalid grandmother, and that their destination was a small port on the west coast of Africa. a little below the equator; that their name was Billings, and that they had no friends in the little settlement for which they were bound." ERB-The Son Of Tarzan. This The Son Of Tarzan passage supports the earlier one in Tarzan Of The Apes that the jungle lord's cabin was located in Portuguese Angola.

Tarzan's Africa

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.