Edgar Burroughs is the author of Tarzan

The list of authors whose works are now in the public domain also includes the writer who created Tarzan, Edgar Burroughs.

The transfer to the public domain means that an author’s published work can now be freely used by anyone without anyone’s consent or permission, and without payment of royalties. Such a work may be freely published, illustrated, translated, adapted, dramatized, and adapted without requesting permission from heirs or other former copyright holders.

Edgar Rice Burroughs (September 1, 1875 – March 19, 1950) was an American science fiction writer, best known for his prolific work in the genres of adventure, science fiction, and fantasy, who had a major influence on the development of these genres in the 20th century – much of the fiction of the 1920s and 1930s was written as direct imitations of Burroughs’ books.

He wrote the Tarzan series, the Mars cycle, and many other books, among them Westerns, historical novels about the Stone Age, the Middle Ages, and others. The various works of this prolific writer take the reader either to the American Wild West, or to the primitive jungles of Africa, or to witness romantic adventures on the Moon.

The novel “Tarzan of the Apes” was the first of a series of popular adventure novels about a young man raised by primates. True, the author had not been to Africa and mistakenly populated it with tigers that had never been there.

An interesting fact – Burroughs invented his character Tarzan, who for almost a century remains perhaps the most popular literary and cinematic character in the world, after visiting the African pavilion at the World Exhibition in Chicago. It was there that the writer saw a German bodybuilder performing, which served as the prototype of the hero. 

When Tarzan was introduced, he became a cultural sensation. Burroughs was determined to capitalize on Tarzan’s popularity in every way possible. He planned to exploit Tarzan through several different media, including Tarzan comics, movies, and merchandise. Experts in the industry advised against such a course of action, saying that the various media would simply end up competing with each other. However, Burroughs went further and proved the experts wrong-the public wanted Tarzan any way it was offered. To this day, Tarzan remains one of the most successful fictional characters.

With the royalties from book sales, Burroughs bought a ranch in California, which he called “Tarzania”.