Tarzan the Untamed
Encyclopedia
Tarzan the Untamed is a book written by Edgar Rice Burroughs
, the seventh in his series of books about the title character Tarzan
. It was originally published as two separate stories serialized in different pulp magazine
s; "Tarzan the Untamed" (AKA "Tarzan and the Huns") in Redbook
from March to August, 1919, and "Tarzan and the Valley of Luna" in All-Story Weekly from March to April 1920. The two stories were combined under the title of the first in the first book edition, published in 1920 by A. C. McClurg
. In order of writing, the book follows Jungle Tales of Tarzan
, a collection of short stories about the ape-man's youth. Chronologically, it follows Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar
.
. While John Clayton, Lord Greystoke (Tarzan) is away from his plantation home in British East Africa, it is destroyed by invading German
troops from Tanganyika
. On his return he discovers among many burned bodies one that appears to be the corpse of his wife, Jane Porter Clayton
. Another fatality is the Waziri
warrior Wasimbu, left crucified by the Germans. (Wasimbu's father Muviro
, first mentioned in this story, goes on to play a prominent role in later Tarzan novels.)
Maddened, the ape-man seeks revenge not only on the perpetrators of the tragedy but all Germans, and sets out for the battle front of the war in east Africa. On the way he has a run-in with a lion
(or Numa, as it is called by the apes among whom Tarzan was raised), which he traps in a gulch by blocking the entrance. At the front he infiltrates the German headquarters and seizes Major Schneider, the officer he believes led the raid on his estate. Returning to the gulch, he throws his captive to the lion. Tarzan goes on to help the British in the battle in various ways, including setting the lion loose in the enemy trenches, and kills von Goss, another German officer involved in the attack on the Greystoke estate.
He then becomes embroiled in the affairs of Bertha Kircher, a woman he has seen in both the German and British camps, and believes to be a German spy, particularly after he learns she possesses his mother's locket, which he had given as a gift to Jane. His efforts to retrieve it lead him to a rendezvous between Kircher and Captain Fritz Schneider, brother of the major Tarzan threw to the lion previously, and the actual commander of the force that burned the estate. Killing Schneider, Tarzan believes his vengeance complete. Abandoning his vendetta against the Germans he departs for the jungle, swearing off all company with mankind.
Seeking a band of Mangani
, the apes among whom he had been raised, Tarzan crosses a desert, undergoing great privations. Indeed, the desert is almost his undoing. He only survives by feigning death to lure a vulture
(Ska in the ape language) following him into his reach; he then catches and devours the vulture, which gives him the strength to go on. The scene is a powerful one, a highlight both of the novel and of the Tarzan series as a whole.
On the other side of the desert Tarzan locates the ape band. While with them he once again encounters Bertha Kircher, who has just escaped from Sergeant Usanga, leader a troop of native deserters from the German army, by whom she had been taken captive. Despite his suspicion of Bertha, Tarzan's natural chivalry leads him to grant her shelter and protection among the apes. Later he himself falls captive to the tribe of cannibals the deserters have sheltered among, along with Harold Percy Smith-Oldwick, a British aviator who has been forced down in the jungle. Learning of Tarzan's plight, Bertha heroically leads the apes against the natives and frees them both.
Smith-Oldwick becomes infatuated with Bertha, and they search for his downed plane. They find it, but are captured again by Usanga, who attempts to fly off in it with Bertha. Tarzan arrives in time to board the plane as it takes off and throw Usanga from the plane. Smith-Oldwick and Bertha Kircher then try to pilot it back across the desert to civilization, but fail to make it. Seeing the plane go down, Tarzan once more sets out to rescue them. On the way he encounters another Numa, this one an unusual black lion caught in a pit trap, and frees it.
He, the two lovers and the lion are soon reunited, but attacked by warriors from the lost city of Xuja, hidden in a secret desert valley. Tarzan is left for dead and Bertha and Smith-Oldwick taken prisoner. The Xujans are masters of the local lions and worshippers of parrots and monkeys. They are also completely insane as a consequence of long inbreeding. Recovering, Tarzan once more comes to the rescue of his companions, aided by the lion he had saved earlier. But the Xujans pursue them and they turn at bay to make one last stand. The day is saved by a search party from Smith-Oldwick's unit, who turn the tide.
Afterward, Tarzan and Smith-Oldwick find out that Bertha is a double agent who has actually been working for the British. Tarzan also learns from the diary of the deceased Fritz Schneider that Jane might still be alive.
novel The Land That Time Forgot
. This portrayal, while perhaps understandable in wartime, ultimately ruined the market for his writing in Germany
, where the character of Tarzan had formerly been quite popular. Burroughs’ later introduction of heroic Germans into his subsequent novels Tarzan and the Lost Empire
, Tarzan at the Earth’s Core
and Back to the Stone Age
did little to repair the damage to his reputation there.
Tarzan himself, unusually, is recast from his typical role as a noble and high-minded hero into that of a very human being so unhinged by grief as to blame a whole nation for the crimes of a few of its people, and to commit atrocities in consequence. His simple, direct and savage campaign against the enemy comes across as crude in comparison with Bertha's espionage, with which it ironically interferes. Tarzan's recovery of something approaching his normal status is attained only gradually. The parallel encounters with the two lions highlight his dual role; in the first, the lion is treated with cruelty, as an enemy and a tool against other enemies; in the second compassion prevails, and the lion is befriended and becomes a willing ally.
Regardless of its flaws, Tarzan the Untamed is an important work in the Tarzan series. It begins a sequence continuing with Tarzan the Terrible
, Tarzan and the Golden Lion
and Tarzan and the Ant Men
in which Burroughs' vivid imagination and storytelling abilities hit their peak, and which is generally considered a highlight of the series.
The book is also a transitional one for the series. The hero's acts of vengeance against the Germans look back to his malicious baiting of a native tribe in Tarzan of the Apes
, the first Tarzan novel, a campaign also motivated by grief, on that occasion for the death of his ape mother Kala
at the hands of a villager. The taming of the lions recalls Tarzan’s enlistment of a whole menagerie to his cause in the early The Beasts of Tarzan
, while looking ahead to his recruiting of his ultimate lion ally, Jad-bal-ja
, in Tarzan and the Golden Lion
.
Tarzan the Untamed is a pivotal work in that it heralds two basic shifts in plot-type for the Tarzan series. The first is a shift in focus away from Tarzan himself and towards secondary characters. Previous novels had dealt primarily with the ape-man’s own affairs, while most later ones (beginning with Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle
) would cast him as a savior and enabler of others, following the example set in his dealings with Bertha Kircher and Harold Percy Smith-Oldwick.
The second shift is marked by the appearance of the lost civilization of Xuja, which brings to the fore a plot element that would dominate the later Tarzan novels. Prior to Tarzan the Untamed the series centered on Tarzan’s natural environment and activities among the animals and natives of Africa. The only element comparable to Xuja had been the lost city of Opar
, which had been used sparingly, appearing only twice over the course of six novels. After Tarzan the Untamed lost cities, races and lands would be encountered in almost every book, usually in pairs at war with each other.
form on a number of occasions.
for this story has expired in the United States, and thus now resides in the public domain
there. The text is available via Project Gutenberg
.
Edgar Rice Burroughs
Edgar Rice Burroughs was an American author, best known for his creation of the jungle hero Tarzan and the heroic Mars adventurer John Carter, although he produced works in many genres.-Biography:...
, the seventh in his series of books about the title character Tarzan
Tarzan
Tarzan is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungles by the Mangani "great apes"; he later experiences civilization only to largely reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer...
. It was originally published as two separate stories serialized in different pulp magazine
Pulp magazine
Pulp magazines , also collectively known as pulp fiction, refers to inexpensive fiction magazines published from 1896 through the 1950s. The typical pulp magazine was seven inches wide by ten inches high, half an inch thick, and 128 pages long...
s; "Tarzan the Untamed" (AKA "Tarzan and the Huns") in Redbook
Redbook
Redbook is an American women's magazine published by the Hearst Corporation. It is one of the "Seven Sisters", a group of women's service magazines.-History:...
from March to August, 1919, and "Tarzan and the Valley of Luna" in All-Story Weekly from March to April 1920. The two stories were combined under the title of the first in the first book edition, published in 1920 by A. C. McClurg
A. C. McClurg
A. C. McClurg was a Chicago based publisher made famous by their original publishing of the Tarzan of the Apes novels and other stories of Edgar Rice Burroughs....
. In order of writing, the book follows Jungle Tales of Tarzan
Jungle Tales of Tarzan
Jungle Tales of Tarzan is a collection of twelve loosely-connected short stories written by Edgar Rice Burroughs, comprising the sixth book in order of publication in his series about the title character Tarzan...
, a collection of short stories about the ape-man's youth. Chronologically, it follows Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar
Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar
Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar is a novel written by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the fifth in his series of books about the title character Tarzan. It first appeared in the November and December issues of All-Story Cavalier Weekly in 1916, and the first book publication was by McClurg in 1918.-Plot...
.
Plot summary
The action is set during World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. While John Clayton, Lord Greystoke (Tarzan) is away from his plantation home in British East Africa, it is destroyed by invading German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
troops from Tanganyika
Tanganyika
Tanganyika , later formally the Republic of Tanganyika, was a sovereign state in East Africa from 1961 to 1964. It was situated between the Indian Ocean and the African Great Lakes of Lake Victoria, Lake Malawi and Lake Tanganyika...
. On his return he discovers among many burned bodies one that appears to be the corpse of his wife, Jane Porter Clayton
Jane Porter (Tarzan)
Jane Porter is a major character in Edgar Rice Burroughs's series of Tarzan novels, and in adaptations of the saga to other media, particularly film.- In the novels :...
. Another fatality is the Waziri
Waziri (fictional tribe)
Waziri is the name of a fictional African tribe created by Edgar Rice Burroughs in his Tarzan books.In The Return of Tarzan Tarzan returns from civilization to his beloved jungle. But he has changed: when he meets a black warrior, instead of killing him he saves him from Numa, the lion. The warrior...
warrior Wasimbu, left crucified by the Germans. (Wasimbu's father Muviro
Muviro
Muviro, chief of the Waziri, is a character in the Tarzan saga created by Edgar Rice Burroughs.-Character:Muviro is depicted as a somewhat elderly warrior of the Wazari, wise, brave and respected, and a good friend of Tarzan. He serves as the sub-chief of the tribe under Tarzan...
, first mentioned in this story, goes on to play a prominent role in later Tarzan novels.)
Maddened, the ape-man seeks revenge not only on the perpetrators of the tragedy but all Germans, and sets out for the battle front of the war in east Africa. On the way he has a run-in with a lion
Lion
The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...
(or Numa, as it is called by the apes among whom Tarzan was raised), which he traps in a gulch by blocking the entrance. At the front he infiltrates the German headquarters and seizes Major Schneider, the officer he believes led the raid on his estate. Returning to the gulch, he throws his captive to the lion. Tarzan goes on to help the British in the battle in various ways, including setting the lion loose in the enemy trenches, and kills von Goss, another German officer involved in the attack on the Greystoke estate.
He then becomes embroiled in the affairs of Bertha Kircher, a woman he has seen in both the German and British camps, and believes to be a German spy, particularly after he learns she possesses his mother's locket, which he had given as a gift to Jane. His efforts to retrieve it lead him to a rendezvous between Kircher and Captain Fritz Schneider, brother of the major Tarzan threw to the lion previously, and the actual commander of the force that burned the estate. Killing Schneider, Tarzan believes his vengeance complete. Abandoning his vendetta against the Germans he departs for the jungle, swearing off all company with mankind.
Seeking a band of Mangani
Mangani
Mangani is the name of a fictional species of great apes in the Tarzan novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs, and of the invented language used by these apes. In the invented language, Mangani is the apes' word for their own kind, although the term is also applied to humans...
, the apes among whom he had been raised, Tarzan crosses a desert, undergoing great privations. Indeed, the desert is almost his undoing. He only survives by feigning death to lure a vulture
Vulture
Vulture is the name given to two groups of convergently evolved scavenging birds, the New World Vultures including the well-known Californian and Andean Condors, and the Old World Vultures including the birds which are seen scavenging on carcasses of dead animals on African plains...
(Ska in the ape language) following him into his reach; he then catches and devours the vulture, which gives him the strength to go on. The scene is a powerful one, a highlight both of the novel and of the Tarzan series as a whole.
On the other side of the desert Tarzan locates the ape band. While with them he once again encounters Bertha Kircher, who has just escaped from Sergeant Usanga, leader a troop of native deserters from the German army, by whom she had been taken captive. Despite his suspicion of Bertha, Tarzan's natural chivalry leads him to grant her shelter and protection among the apes. Later he himself falls captive to the tribe of cannibals the deserters have sheltered among, along with Harold Percy Smith-Oldwick, a British aviator who has been forced down in the jungle. Learning of Tarzan's plight, Bertha heroically leads the apes against the natives and frees them both.
Smith-Oldwick becomes infatuated with Bertha, and they search for his downed plane. They find it, but are captured again by Usanga, who attempts to fly off in it with Bertha. Tarzan arrives in time to board the plane as it takes off and throw Usanga from the plane. Smith-Oldwick and Bertha Kircher then try to pilot it back across the desert to civilization, but fail to make it. Seeing the plane go down, Tarzan once more sets out to rescue them. On the way he encounters another Numa, this one an unusual black lion caught in a pit trap, and frees it.
He, the two lovers and the lion are soon reunited, but attacked by warriors from the lost city of Xuja, hidden in a secret desert valley. Tarzan is left for dead and Bertha and Smith-Oldwick taken prisoner. The Xujans are masters of the local lions and worshippers of parrots and monkeys. They are also completely insane as a consequence of long inbreeding. Recovering, Tarzan once more comes to the rescue of his companions, aided by the lion he had saved earlier. But the Xujans pursue them and they turn at bay to make one last stand. The day is saved by a search party from Smith-Oldwick's unit, who turn the tide.
Afterward, Tarzan and Smith-Oldwick find out that Bertha is a double agent who has actually been working for the British. Tarzan also learns from the diary of the deceased Fritz Schneider that Jane might still be alive.
Controversy
Tarzan the Untamed was one of Burroughs’ most controversial novels. The controversy stemmed from his blanket portrayal of Germans as stereotypical, unredeemable villains, one that was also extended to his contemporary science fictionScience fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
novel The Land That Time Forgot
The Land That Time Forgot (novel)
The Land That Time Forgot is an Edgar Rice Burroughs science fiction novel, the first of his Caspak trilogy. His working title for the story was "The Lost U-Boat." The sequence was first published in Blue Book Magazine as a three-part serial in the issues for September, October and November 1918...
. This portrayal, while perhaps understandable in wartime, ultimately ruined the market for his writing in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, where the character of Tarzan had formerly been quite popular. Burroughs’ later introduction of heroic Germans into his subsequent novels Tarzan and the Lost Empire
Tarzan and the Lost Empire
Tarzan and the Lost Empire is a novel written by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the twelfth in his series of books about the title character Tarzan. It was first published as a serial in Blue Book Magazine from October 1928 through February 1929; it first appeared in book form in a hardcover edition from...
, Tarzan at the Earth’s Core
Tarzan at the Earth's Core
Tarzan at the Earth's Core is a novel written by Edgar Rice Burroughs, simultaneously the thirteenth in his series of books about the title character Tarzan and the fourth in his series set in the interior world of Pellucidar.-Plot summary:...
and Back to the Stone Age
Back to the Stone Age
Back to the Stone Age is a novel written by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the fifth in his series set in the interior world of Pellucidar. It first appeared as a six-part serial in Argosy Weekly from January 9 to February 13, 1937 under the title "Seven Worlds to Conquer." It was first published in book...
did little to repair the damage to his reputation there.
Importance
Tarzan the Untamed has a sprawling, almost incoherent plot atypical of the author's early Tarzan novels, an artifact of its origin as two separate tales. The initial savage campaign of retribution, once it has run its course, gives way to a complete withdrawal and rejection of humanity, which is succeeded in turn by a fantastic adventure in a lost city. Only the continuing presence of the enigmatic figure of Bertha Kircher serves to unite the disparate story elements.Tarzan himself, unusually, is recast from his typical role as a noble and high-minded hero into that of a very human being so unhinged by grief as to blame a whole nation for the crimes of a few of its people, and to commit atrocities in consequence. His simple, direct and savage campaign against the enemy comes across as crude in comparison with Bertha's espionage, with which it ironically interferes. Tarzan's recovery of something approaching his normal status is attained only gradually. The parallel encounters with the two lions highlight his dual role; in the first, the lion is treated with cruelty, as an enemy and a tool against other enemies; in the second compassion prevails, and the lion is befriended and becomes a willing ally.
Regardless of its flaws, Tarzan the Untamed is an important work in the Tarzan series. It begins a sequence continuing with Tarzan the Terrible
Tarzan the Terrible
Tarzan the Terrible is a novel written by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the eighth in his series of books about the title character Tarzan. It was first published as a serial in the pulp magazine Argosy All-Story Weekly in the issues for February 12, 19, and 26 and March 5, 12, 19, and 26, 1921; the first...
, Tarzan and the Golden Lion
Tarzan and the Golden Lion
Tarzan and the Golden Lion is a novel written by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the ninth in his series of books about the title character Tarzan. It was first published as a seven part serial in Argosy All-Story Weekly beginning in December 1922; and then as a complete novel by A.C. McClurg & Co...
and Tarzan and the Ant Men
Tarzan and the Ant Men
Tarzan and the Ant Men is the tenth book in Edgar Rice Burroughs' series of novels about the jungle hero Tarzan. It was first published as a seven-part serial in the magazine Argosy All-Story Weekly for February 2, 9, 16, and 23 and March 1, 8, and 15, 1924. It was first published in book form in...
in which Burroughs' vivid imagination and storytelling abilities hit their peak, and which is generally considered a highlight of the series.
The book is also a transitional one for the series. The hero's acts of vengeance against the Germans look back to his malicious baiting of a native tribe in Tarzan of the Apes
Tarzan of the Apes
Tarzan of the Apes is a novel written by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the first in a series of books about the title character Tarzan. It was first published in the pulp magazine All-Story Magazine in October, 1912; the first book edition was published in 1914. The character was so popular that Burroughs...
, the first Tarzan novel, a campaign also motivated by grief, on that occasion for the death of his ape mother Kala
Kala (Tarzan)
Kala is a fictional ape character in Edgar Rice Burroughs's original Tarzan novel, Tarzan of the Apes, and in the Walt Disney-produced animated movie Tarzan based on it....
at the hands of a villager. The taming of the lions recalls Tarzan’s enlistment of a whole menagerie to his cause in the early The Beasts of Tarzan
The Beasts of Tarzan
The Beasts of Tarzan is a novel written by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the third in his series of books about the title character Tarzan. Originally serialized in All-Story Cavalier magazine in 1914, the novel was first published in book form by A. C...
, while looking ahead to his recruiting of his ultimate lion ally, Jad-bal-ja
Jad-bal-ja
Jad-bal-ja, the Golden Lion is a fictional lion character in Edgar Rice Burroughs's Tarzan novels, and in adaptations of the saga to other media, particularly comics.-Character:...
, in Tarzan and the Golden Lion
Tarzan and the Golden Lion
Tarzan and the Golden Lion is a novel written by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the ninth in his series of books about the title character Tarzan. It was first published as a seven part serial in Argosy All-Story Weekly beginning in December 1922; and then as a complete novel by A.C. McClurg & Co...
.
Tarzan the Untamed is a pivotal work in that it heralds two basic shifts in plot-type for the Tarzan series. The first is a shift in focus away from Tarzan himself and towards secondary characters. Previous novels had dealt primarily with the ape-man’s own affairs, while most later ones (beginning with Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle
Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle (novel)
Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle is a novel written by Edgar Rice Burroughs, generally considered the eleventh in his series of books about the title character Tarzan...
) would cast him as a savior and enabler of others, following the example set in his dealings with Bertha Kircher and Harold Percy Smith-Oldwick.
The second shift is marked by the appearance of the lost civilization of Xuja, which brings to the fore a plot element that would dominate the later Tarzan novels. Prior to Tarzan the Untamed the series centered on Tarzan’s natural environment and activities among the animals and natives of Africa. The only element comparable to Xuja had been the lost city of Opar
Opar
Opar is a fictional lost city in Edgar Rice Burroughs's series of Tarzan novels.Burroughs may have taken the name from the Biblical reference to Ophir, whence King Solomon supposedly received a cargo of "gold, silver, sandalwood, precious stones, ivory, apes and peacocks" every three years, via...
, which had been used sparingly, appearing only twice over the course of six novels. After Tarzan the Untamed lost cities, races and lands would be encountered in almost every book, usually in pairs at war with each other.
Comic adaptations
The book has been adapted into comicTarzan (comics)
Tarzan, a fictional character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs, first appeared in the 1912 novel Tarzan of the Apes, and then in 23 sequels. The character proved immensely popular and quickly made the jump to other media, including comics.-Comic strips:...
form on a number of occasions.
- Tarzan newspaper daily strips in 1932-1933 (art by Rex Maxon)
- Tarzan newspaper daily strips 5/4/51—7/6/51, partial adaptation of chapters 8, 10 and 11 (script by Dick Van Buren, art by Bob LubbersBob LubbersBob Lubbers is an American comic strip and comic book artist best known for his work on such strips as Tarzan, Li'l Abner and Long Sam.-Biography:...
) - Tarzan #163-164, dated January-March 1968 (script by Gaylord DuBoisGaylord DuBoisGaylord McIlvaine Du Bois , or DuBois In his lifetime he wrote well over 3000 comic book stories and comic strips as well as Big Little Books and juvenile adventure...
, art by Russ ManningRuss ManningRussell Manning was an American comic book artist who created the series Magnus, Robot Fighter and illustrated such newspaper comic strips as Tarzan and Star Wars...
), published by Gold Key ComicsGold Key ComicsGold Key Comics was an imprint of Western Publishing created for comic books distributed to newsstands. Also known as Whitman Comics, Gold Key operated from 1962 to 1984.-History:... - Tarzan #250-256, dated June-December 1976 (script by Gerry ConwayGerry ConwayGerard F. "Gerry" Conway is an American writer of comic books and television shows. He is known for co-creating the Marvel Comics vigilante The Punisher and scripting the death of the character Gwen Stacy during his long run on The Amazing Spider-Man...
and Denny O'Neill, art by José Luis García-LópezJosé Luis García-LópezJosé Luis García-López is a Spanish comic book artist who works in the United States of America, mostly for DC Comics. He has most recently penciled an arc in Batman Confidential, the Metal Men storyline in the 2009 Wednesday Comics weekly anthology, and, in 2011, one of the stories in The Spirit...
and others), published by DC ComicsDC ComicsDC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
Copyright
The copyrightCopyright
Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...
for this story has expired in the United States, and thus now resides in the public domain
Public domain
Works are in the public domain if the intellectual property rights have expired, if the intellectual property rights are forfeited, or if they are not covered by intellectual property rights at all...
there. The text is available via Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks". Founded in 1971 by Michael S. Hart, it is the oldest digital library. Most of the items in its collection are the full texts of public domain books...
.