Tarzan And The Books Of Gold!

Tarzan and the City of Gold was my first Tarzan novel, my first encounter with the raw source, the words of Edgar Rice Burroughs. The lustrous cover featuring an idealized and almost too pretty Tarzan is by artist Don McLouglin, a detail I'd forgotten until I found this. The writer there, like myself, first encountered the pure written Tarzan in this graceful tome.

The glowing smooth artwork on this wraparound cover reminds me of a gigantic mural which dominated the small country church my family attended. It featured a similar lush sylvan scene, but had a risen Jesus encountering Mary Magdalene. This cover has the same relative composition and the same soft colors. I don't recollect associating the two figures of Tarzan and Jesus beyond noticing the similarity in artwork, but these days of course burdened with decades of studying myths and legends I could make more than a couple of connections.

Comic artist Jesse Marsh illustrated the interiors of this vintage gem. I'm not a huge devotee of Marsh, but I can appreciate his work nonetheless.This is a darn nice image of the Ape Man poised to attack.

For the record McLouglin also did the artwork for another Whitman Tarzan novel, Tarzan and the Forbidden City.

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