A large archive of material spanning the whole of Burroughs' life, with emphasis on his career as a writer from the 1920s to the 1940s. Several thousand items including correspondence, unpublished manuscript material, photographs, and other memorabilia from his life and work. Thirty-three large binders sorted by date, plus additional unsorted extra material and a number of printed works. An archive that documents, week by week and sometimes day by day, ERB's life and work. Among the more than 3000 items in the collection are the original check Burroughs received for his first Tarzan story, numerous pieces of his war reporting that have never been published, an original typescript of a cross-country family trip, illustrated with original snapshots, a handwritten account written while he took his first flight in an airplane, and much more. Burroughs has been one of the most popular writers in American literature and an influential figure as well; his impact has been pervasive and ongoing. Tarzan was not only an adventure story, but an environmental morality tale with a critique of industrial society and an image of the "natural" man. One can find in his writing the antecedents of many contemporary strains of thought, including assumptions about who we are and our place in the world. The value of an unsullied natural environment and the sympathy for the animal kingdom mark Burroughs as ecologically-minded long before that term came into common use. Above all, Burroughs the writer was an entertainer, and in his creative life we see the beginnings of today's modern entertainment industry: he "branded" both himself and his creations, most especially Tarzan, and he diversified from pulp magazines and novels into radio, films, comic strips and commercial products of every stripe. The McDonald's Happy Meal with the movie tie-in character toy would not exist if Burroughs had not pioneered the kinds of linkage that such commerce represents. Like most of Hollywood -- where much of his work came into being in its most popular and accessible form -- we find in Burroughs the intersection of art and commerce, the alpha and omega of contemporary culture. A detailed inventory is available at our website, lopezbooks.com. [#017360] SOLD