Tarzan Makes His First Appearance in The All-Story Magazine

Edgar Rice Burroughs' most famous character, Tarzan, made his first appearance in print on 27 August 1912, in The All-Story magazine (October issue). Burroughs book subsequently spawned 23 sequels.

Tarzan of the Apes is described in the magazine as: "… a crackerjack … It is the most exciting story we have seen in a blue moon, and about as original as they make 'em … Through a series of catastrophes an English baby boy is kidnapped by a tribe of huge anthropoid apes. He grows up among them. The fact that he is a reasoning animal makes a difference in his development, and then the forces of civilization obtrude. Zowie! but things happen!"

To the modern reader, however, Tarzan of the Apes exhibits the Westernized racial stereotypes of its age:

"In advance were fifty black warriors armed with slender wooden spears with ends hard baked over slow fires, and long bows and poisoned arrows. On their backs were oval shields, in their noses huge rings, while from the kinky wool of their heads protruded tufts of gay feathers.
"Across their foreheads were tattooed three parallel lines of color, and on each breast three concentric circles. Their yellow teeth were filed to sharp points, and their great protruding lips added still further to the low and bestial brutishness of their appearance."

and

"Tarzan of the Apes looked with growing wonder at these strange creatures. Dozing in the shade he saw several men, while at the extreme outskirts of the clearing he occasionally caught glimpses of armed warriors apparently guarding the village against surprise from an attacking enemy.
"He noticed that the women alone worked. Nowhere was there evidence of a man tilling the fields or performing any of the homely duties of the village."

Whereas Tarzan is described:

"The young Lord Greystoke was indeed a strange and war-like figure, his mass of black hair falling to his shoulders behind and cut with his hunting knife to a rude bang upon his forehead, that it might not fall before his eyes.
"His straight and perfect figure, muscled as the best of the ancient Roman gladiators must have been muscled, and yet with the soft and sinuous curves of a Greek god, told at a glance the wondrous combination of enormous strength with suppleness and speed."

In later years, after Burroughs moved to Hollywood, Tarzan books were written with a more critical look at racial stereotypes.

The Tarzan books remain popular today despite their non pc depiction of Africans. The Disney animated version, which was released in 1999, was followed up by two direct-to-video releases, Tarzan and Jane (2002) and Tarzan II (2005).

An e-text version of Tarzan of the Apes is available from Project Gutenberg.

^{Photo: Getty Images – Tarzan (1999) Disney}