House of Greystoke publications

I have posted before on the Burroughs Bibliophiles, a literary society started by Vern Coriell with the permission of Edgar Rice Burroughs.

In addition to publishing The Burroughs Bulletin, Coriell started a publication arm called the House of Greystoke, which published a variety of works from the late 1960s into the late ’70s. Some further works were published by the House of Greystoke after that.

Through this, the Bibliophiles published reprints of comic strips and Burroughs’ fiction, as well as new fiction and various nonfiction items.

I have never seen a complete list of items they put out, and I know that, in addition to books, they also did posters and buttons. I have tried to compile as complete a list as possible.

Comic-strip reprints

There were several series of comic strips put out, as well as several more planned. In many cases, these are the only times some of these works have been reprinted. I don’t have all of these items, but these are what I know exist.

The Illustrated Tarzan Books series, which reprinted the daily strips:

• #1. Tarzan of the Apes, art by Hal Foster (1967)
• #2. The Return of Tarzan, art by Rex Maxon (1968)
• #3. The Beasts of Tarzan, art by Maxon (1971)
• #13. Tarzan the Ape Man, art by Maxon (undated)
• #23. Tarzan Under Fire, art by William Juhre (1968)

Tarzan Sunday Page Folio series:

• #1. The First 28 Pages, art by Rex Maxon (1968; loose-leaf, 30 pages, 13.75-by-10.25 inches)
• #2. First Four Foster Adventures: Foreign Legion, Jungle Goddesses, Return of Korak, and Elephants’ Graveyard, art by Foster (1971)
• #5. Tarzan and the Vikings, and The Sinister Safari, art by Hal Foster (1970; two sizes: 14-by-11 inches, 56 pages; 11-by-8.5 inches, 60 pages)
• #6. Tarzan and the Golden City, art by Foster and Burne Hogarth (1973)
• #7. Tarzan and the Pioneers of the Veldt, art by Hogarth (1974)

Other strip reprints include:

• David Innes of Pellucidar, by John Coleman Burroughs (1968)
• John Carter of Mars, by John Coleman Burroughs (1970)

The daily strip reprints are about digest-size. On the Sunday Folio, the first one has loose pages, so be sure you get a complete set. The one I got was complete, but the pages were out of order. The second folio is about 11-by-14 inches in size, and the third is available in two sizes. One is 11-by-14 inches and the other is 11-by-8.5 inches, like the rest of the Sunday collections. The David Innes collection is from the comics and is about the same size as the daily reprint books. The John Carter collection is oblong, though.

Burroughs fiction

• The Girl From Farris’s, 1965 (reprinted in BB #59–60)
• The Efficiency Expert, 1966 (reprinted in BB #57–58) (first book edition)

Some are not aware that Burroughs tried several times to write more mainstream works. These were two such attempts. They have been reprinted since. The Efficiency Expert is actually the first book edition of this story, and I think this is true of the other as well.

Other fiction

• Lost on Jupiter by William Gilmour (supplement to #13, reprinted as BB #32), 1962
• Tarzan and the Lightning Men by William Gilmour (supplement to #14, reprinted as BB #51), 1963

These are two pastiches that were first made available as supplements to the Bulletin, then later reprinted in double issues of the Bulletin. They have never been reprinted since.

Burroughs Bibliophile series

• #1 Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar with St. John Folio, 1964
• #5 The Master Mind of Mars (mislabeled Burroughs Bulletin #5, reprinted as BB #66–67–68), 1971

I’m uncertain what other volumes would be considered part of this series, or if there were only two. The J. Allen St. John folio was separate from the Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar volume, but they were sold together. You might not find them together.

Nonfiction

• The Master of Adventure by John Harwood, undated
• The New Adventures of Tarzan Film Book, undated (1970s?; 7-by-10 inches)
• The Burroughs Biblio-File, undated
• Jocko: Jungle Lord, undated (1974?)
• J. Allen St. John Art Folio (with “Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar”), 1964
• Vern Coriell, undated
• The Battle of Hollywood by James H. Pierce, 1978 (hardcover with dust jacket)

I have some of the above. The Master of Adventure is a bio of Burroughs. The New Adventures booklet is a chapter-by-chapter synopsis of this chapter film (serial), but it is undated and says nothing about who published it. The Battle of Hollywood is a bio of James Pierce, who was at the time the oldest living actor who played Tarzan. He would marry ERB’s daughter, and this is an interesting volume. After this, I thought the House of Greystoke was no longer used, but I have found that it’s been used for a few further works, most of which are hard to find, as not many copies were made. This includes:

• ERB Memorial Collection: A Catalog by George T. McWhorter, 1991 (limited to 500 numbered copies)
• Tarzan of the Funnies by Robert R. Barrett, 2002, Mad Kings/House of Greystoke
• Odyssey of a Tarzan Fanatic, by Clarence “Bob” Hyde, 2006
• The A. L. Burt Tarzan Editions of ERB: A Descriptive Bibliography, by Jimmie (Jim) C. Goodwin, 2024

I only have the first two items, as most copies I see coming up are kind of expensive.  The fourth item is easily obtained from Amazon.

In addition to publishing the Burroughs Bulletin, other newsletters were put out. I am aware of three.

The first is The Gridley Wave, which started in 1959. This was done when the Bulletin was in hiatus and was more a newsletter than a journal. There were about four issues a year until they went to monthly in 1974 with issue #43. This is still published to this day, but is now distributed electronically as a PDF file. It’s usually two to four pages in length. Earlier issues had additional items such as some fiction and the like to fill the gap left by the Bulletin not being published.

In the early 1960s, the Dum-Dum was started. This newsletter was focused on organizational business instead of ERB-related news. As far as I know, there are only four issues, which I’m fortunate to have all of them.

And finally, there is Barsoomian Bazaar. I am unclear when in the ’60s this one started or how many issues. In a couple of cases, this was included in the Gridley Wave. Several of the ones I have don’t identify when they were published.   This was more of an adzine, with stuff for sale from Coriell, especially House of Greystoke items. I have about a half dozen issues. If anyone knows more, I’d love to hear of it.

Hopefully, this helps other collectors and fans.