Tarzan at the Earth's Core

The story was written from December 6, 1928 to February 7, 1929 as Tarzan and Pellucidar (79,446 words). Tanar of Pellucidar and Tarzan at the Earth's Core were written back to back and should be read that way for the complete story.

It appeared first in the pulp magazine, Blue Book, as Tarzan at the Earth's Core, a seven-part monthly serial that began immediately after Tanar of Pellucidar finished its run. This one ran from September 1929 to March 1930. Burroughs received $8,000 for this story. It was illustrated throughout (fifty-three black & white drawings) by Frank Hoban, including covers for all seven parts. This is the only ERB serial to have a full color cover for each part. The interior art from all parts was reproduced in The Rocket’s Blast and the Comicollector #2 in 2001.

It was first published as a book November 28, 1930 by Metropolitan Books, Inc. This hardcover has a wrap-around dust jacket illustration and frontispiece by J. Allen St. John. The book cover is light green with black lettering. A second state has an orange cover.

Grosset & Dunlap reprinted the book in 1932. The St. John dust jacket and frontispiece from the first edition were used. There are ten G & D printings with the last being in 1937. The covers are red with black lettering. The first was a "mixed edition" with a Metropolitan interior and G & D binding and jacket. Printings before the mid-thirties contain the frontispiece by J. Allen St. John.

Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. published the book in 1948, using the same St. John dust jacket illustration and frontispiece. The cover is tan with blue lettering.

1962 Canaveral Press hardcover with dust jacket, endpapers, and eight interior illustrations by Frank Frazetta - The book cover is beige or blue with black or gold lettering, depending on the variant.

1963 Ace paperback with cover and title page drawing by Frank Frazetta (three printings)

1973 Ace paperback with the same cover illustration by Frazetta as the 1963 edition - The 1973 edition is a larger book with a different font style on the cover (seven printings).

1974 Canaveral Press hardcover - This Canaveral reprint has a textured dust jacket as opposed to the 1962 edition’s smooth jacket [not pictured].

1974 Ballantine paperback with a cropped version of the Robert Abbett illustration that was used on the 1970 edition (one printing)

1988 Avenel hardcover with dust jacket by St. John - The book also includes the stories: Tarzan of the Apes, The Son of Tarzan, and Tarzan Triumphant. Each of the four stories is illustrated. Tarzan at the Earth’s Core has a “frontispiece” and one plate, a duplicate of the frontispiece. The book cover is brown with gold lettering. It has a preface by editor Claire Booss and an introduction by Stefan R. Dziemianowicz.

1997 Del Rey paperback with cover by Gerald Brom - The book also includes the story: Tarzan the Invincible.

1998 Gramercy hardcover with dust jacket by St. John - The book also includes the stories: Tarzan of the Apes and The Son of Tarzan. Each of the three stories is illustrated. Tarzan at the Earth’s Core has a “frontispiece” and one plate, a duplicate of the frontispiece. The book cover is green with gold lettering. It has an introduction by Stefan R. Dziemianowicz.

2006 Bison Books trade paperback with cover and frontispiece by St. John - There is an introduction by Sean McMullen.

Jason Gridley travels to Africa to enlist the aid of Tarzan to lead the rescue mission to the Earth's core. Tarzan goes to his friend, scientist Erich von Harben, to gain his assistance in construction of the dirigible, the O-220, using Harbenite, the remarkably light metal he discovered.

Jason and Tarzan immediately depart for Pellucidar. Captain Zuppner, several former officers of the German air force including Wilhelm von Horst, and Muviro and nine Waziri warriors, go with them. The team finds the polar opening and flies into Pellucidar.

Tarzan is the first to leave the ship to explore the savage land. So happy is he to be in the jungle again, he carelessly blunders into a snare set by Sagoths. The Sagoths are surprised that the hairless gilak can speak their language, which is the same as that of the great apes of Tarzan's home. During a tribal dispute, Tarzan takes the side of a bull named Tar-gash, and the two are forced to flee the tribe.

Worried, Jason, von Horst, and the Waziri go searching for Tarzan. They become caught up in a huge animal drive, the beasts being herded by hundreds of saber-tooth tigers. Separated from the group, Jason finds his way back to the dirigible to discover he is the only one to have returned. He sets out again, this time in the scout plane. A pteranodon attacks the plane and forces Jason to bail out. Landing unhurt, he saves Jana, The Red Flower of Zoram, from pursuit by men of Pheli.

Tarzan and Tar-gash attempt to find the dirigible. They rescue Thoar of Zoram, the brother of Jana, from a dyal, and then the three find the wreckage of the scout plane. They follow Jason and Jana's tracks.

While von Horst and the Waziri wander lost in Pellucidar, Captain Zuppner decides to search for his comrades in the O-220.

Jana becomes angry with Jason through a misunderstanding, and then they become separated during a rare Pellucidarian rainstorm.

A thipdar seizes Tarzan and carries him off. Tar-gash and Thoar go their separate ways, thinking the ape-man is dead. Tarzan manages to escape being fed to the thipdar's nestlings and rescues Ovan, a boy from the village of Clovi, from a ryth. The boy takes him back to Clovi, but the people there are suspicious of strangers. More warriors of Clovi arrive with a woman of Zoram. It is Jana. Ovan helps Tarzan and Jana escape the village via a secret tunnel. Trying to elude recapture, they travel to the Gyor Cors where they witness the slaying of a gyor by the gorobor-riding Horibs, the lizard-people. The Horibs then capture the two gilaks.

Meanwhile, Jason happens upon Thoar and helps him kill a dyrodor. Searching for Jana, the two travel to Pheli, the village in the swamp. They find the village deserted, when suddenly, they are captured by Korsars who had rowed up river in hopes of capturing a legendary beauty from Zoram. Rowing back down river, the Korsars are attacked by Horibs who kill many of the pirates and then capture the rest, including Jason, Thoar, and a Korsar named Lajo. They are taken to the lake of the Horibs and put in an underwater mud prison where they are to be fattened for later consumption by the females and children. They immediately begin to dig a tunnel toward the forest to escape.

As other Horibs are riding back home with Tarzan and Jana, the ape-man catches a familiar scent: the Waziri! He escapes into the trees and meets them ahead of the Horib march. The Waziri explain their adventures and how von Horst disappeared while they were sleeping in a cave. The warriors then ambush the Horibs, trying to rescue Jana. In the midst of the battle, Jason's group tunnels to the surface. After defeating the lizards, all friends are reunited but Jason and Jana's romantic misunderstanding continues.

Meanwhile, the O-220 with Zuppner, Dorf, Hines, and Jones, sails across the Gyor Cors, searching for its missing crew.

Tarzan and Jason's group decides to go to Korsar with the hope of finding the O-220. Far out on the Kosar Az, they meet the fleet of the Empire including Ja, Dacor, Kolk, and Tanar, in route to rescue their emperor. Shortly after, they meet the O-220. Their combined air and sea firepower impresses the Korsars so much that they release David Innes without a fight.

Tarzan and the dirigible's crew decide to return Thoar to Zoram before returning to the Outer World. Jason remains behind to journey with the fleet to Sari and then to organize a search party for von Horst. Jana decides to go with Jason, the man she loves.

The reproduction dust jacket pictures above are from Bruce Wood's site. These fine reproductions can be purchased there.

Some of the magazine pictures are from Bill Hillman's Bibliography of Pulp Magazines, an excellent source of information.

The Exhaustive Scholar's and Collector's Descriptive Bibliography by Robert B. Zeuschner (1996)

Bibliography of “Pre-war” ERB Grosset & Dunlap Editions 1918-1941 by Joe Lukes (2004)

A Golden Anniversary Bibliography of Edgar Rice Burroughs by Henry Hardy Heins (2001)

Price and Reference Guide to books written by Edgar Rice Burroughs by James A. Bergen, Jr. (1991)

Findings On Collecting Ace Paperback Books for 29 Years by Bill Ross from ERB Collector #48

Master of Adventure: The Worlds of Edgar Rice Burroughs by Richard A. Lupoff (1965)