19th Century Edgar Rice Burroughs
Reply to Speaker to Undergraduates of Senior Class of '94 by President of the Class of '95
Publication: Orchard Lake, MI: June 13, 1894.
Notes: One of the few 19th century Burroughs manuscripts, and one of the most substantial and important.
Burroughs (1875–1950) attended the Michigan Military Academy, graduating just short of his twentieth birthday. As the president of the Junior Class (Class of 1895), he spoke at the graduation of the Class of 1894, making fun of them for their lack of horseback riding skills and for the Senior Class president's admonition against smoking. Here Burroughs turns his wit toward a faculty member, seeming to agree about the harms of cigarettes, "Look at the horrible examples of physical wreck brought on by twenty-five consecutive years of constant cigarette smoking presented to us in the pallid face and emaciated form of the Assistant Inspector General, Capt. Lee."
Adding to the charm of the manuscript are five small vignette drawings, well-executed cartoons of academy life and cadets.
Burroughs would try many professions after leaving the military academy (cavalry instructor, Army private, shopkeeper, accountant, gold miner, police officer, advertising) before his first story was published in a pulp magazine. Tarzan soon followed, and the rest is history.
Six pages on five sheets of 5 by 7-7/8 inch paper. About 550 words.
Provenance: Edgar Rice Burroughs; gift to his daughter, Joan Burroughs Pierce (May 22, 1924; per her accompanying note); Roy and Dela White (ERB collectors); published in the Burroughs Bulletin #34 (Spring 1998); Heritage Auctions (2016, private treaty sale).
Edition + Condition: Very good. Handwritten on paper cut down from larger sheets. Folded for storage in an envelope (present, with Joan Burroughs Pierce's note on the outside). One piece of pressure sensitive tape at the top and bottom of each sheet, affecting some of Burroughs' handwriting. The Whites, who made a display for the speech, probably added the tape. The speech is not signed by Burroughs.
Item No: #366350
Price: $7,500