This is a brief birthday post. Today, September 1, is the birthday of Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875-1950) and Harold Lamb (1892-1962). Both of these writers had a major influence on Robert E. Howard.

Burroughs, of course, needs no introduction. He creates some of the most iconic characters and settings in fantastic fiction. Tarzan, John Carter of Mars, Pellucidar.

We know Howard read Burroughs. He had copies of some of Burroughs’ books in his library. Exactly which ones h e owned versus which ones he read through either borrowiing from friends or a library, we can’t be sure. Howard also mentions Burroughs in some of his correspondence. We do know that Burroughs was a writer Howard read.

The other author who influenced Howard is Harold Lamb. Lamb wrote historical fiction as well as nonfiction. He was an authority on Middle Eastern cultures, wrote a number of histories and biographies, and worked as a consultant for the government.

About twenty years ago or so, Howard Andrew Jones published a nice set of Lamb’s fiction. I’ve not read all the volumes. I have read some of hte Khlit the Cossack stories. The structure of them is reminiscent of much of Howard’s work, particularly the longer Conan stories.

Both of these authors are important enough that whole series of posts about them could be written. I’m going stop here before I get in over my head. It’s late, and I need to get to bed soon. But I wanted to mention both of these men on their birthday. If you haven’t read them, give them a try. I think you’ll be glad you did.