# Is "The Return of Tarzan" by Edgar Rice Burroughs a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Return of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs (A. C. McClurg & Co., 1915) is identified by: First edition, first printing: A. US original; the McClurg (Chicago) 1915 is the true first edition in book form — the census claim is confirmed.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, first printing: A. C. McClurg & Co., Chicago, 1915, published 10 March 1915 in a first printing of 15,000 copies
- The copyright page reads "Published, March, 1915"
- Octavo, pp. [1-8] 1-365 [366-368: blank], the final leaf blank
- Bound in dark green cloth with the front and spine panels stamped in gold
- Twenty-six interior black-and-white headpieces by J. Allen St
- John; the dust jacket is by N. C. Wyeth
- Publisher imprint reads A. C. McClurg & Co.

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Edgar Rice Burroughs |
| Publisher | A. C. McClurg & Co. |
| Year | 1915 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, first printing: A. C. McClurg & Co., Chicago, 1915, published 10 March 1915 in a first printing of 15,000 copies |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First edition, first printing: A. C. McClurg & Co., Chicago, 1915, published 10 March 1915 in a first printing of 15,000 copies. The copyright page reads "Published, March, 1915". Octavo, pp. [1-8] 1-365 [366-368: blank], the final leaf blank. Bound in dark green cloth with the front and spine panels stamped in gold. Twenty-six interior black-and-white headpieces by J. Allen St. John; the dust jacket is by N. C. Wyeth. Dealers note this as one of the harder McClurg Tarzan titles to find in collectible condition. Prior to the 10 March 1915 trade release McClurg produced a printer's dummy / salesman's copy and a paperbound pre-publication copy, also 365 pages.

## Is this the true first?
US original; the McClurg (Chicago) 1915 is the true first edition in book form — the census claim is confirmed. The text was serialized in New Story Magazine, June–December 1913. The first British edition is Methuen (London) 1918 — octavo, blue cloth boards lettered in black with a device, 246 pages plus advertisements — confirming the census claim of Methuen 1918. The Methuen is a later, secondary edition; McClurg carries precedence, though the Methuen is collected in its own right. Methuen's Tarzan jackets used Walpole Champneys cover art through the first seventeen editions to March 1932.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
A. L. Burt held a contract to reprint the first five Tarzan books and issued The Return of Tarzan from 1916, with annual reprint editions through 1919; Grosset & Dunlap reprints followed. Reprints carry the reprint publisher's imprint at the foot of the spine and on the title page in place of McClurg and typically advertise other Burt or G&D titles; the McClurg copyright statement "Published, March, 1915" is absent. Printings across all publishers total roughly 570,000 copies against a 15,000-copy first, so an unexamined copy is far more likely to be a reprint than a first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Return of Tarzan* by Edgar Rice Burroughs a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-return-of-tarzan
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.