EXTRACTS: Illustrators issue 21 © 2017 The Book Palace (96 PAGES in Full edition)

68 Although most closely associated with being the cover artist of the books written by Edgar Rice Burroughs, creator of Tarzan among others, artist/painter St. John did illustrations for many other writers and even illustrated books written by himself. Born in 1872 in Chicago, James Allen St. John, known by his friends as “Jim St. John”, grew up in what might be considered a ‘bohemian environment’, partly due to his mother’s interest in art and painting. St. John’s mother, Susan Hely was born in Ireland and had moved to America in 1837 with her family, settling in Wisconsin where they worked a family farm. Hely learned to paint from her father who did portraits in his spare time and taught his daughter as well. Susan Hely realized early on that she wanted to become a painter. She married Josephus St. John, a physician son of a neighbouring farmer, and together they moved J. Allen St. John The premier delineator of Tarzan and a leading influence on subsequent generations of visionary artists, the life of this iconic illustrator is explored by Diego Cordoba. RIGHT: Tarzan and Jane : the pairing of J. Allen St. John with Edgar Rice Burroughs created an iconography that seared its way into the consciousness of generations of fantasy fiction fans. BELOW: Original oil painting for the cover of ERB’s ‘Cave Girl’, published in 1925. FACING PAGE: Cover to ERB’s ‘The Eternal Lover’, reproduced from the original with the generous assistance of the Korshak Collection. Imaged by Heritage Auctions, HA.com Imaged by Heritage Auctions, HA.com