Bomba, The Jungle Boy (20 volumes, complete series)

New York: Cupples and Leon, 1926-1938. First Edition. First Printings. 20 octavo volumes. (19.5cm). Beige cloth-covered boards, with titling and pictorial elements stamped in black on spines and front covers; illustrated frontis.; red topstain; dustjackets; publication sequence runs as follows:

1. Bomba The Jungle Boy or The Old Naturalist's Secret, 204,[8]pp. Probable second state, brownish tan cloth covered boards; pictorial endpapers; Very Good in Good only jacket lacking 1 inch of spine panel.
2. Bomba The Jungle Boy at The Moving Mountain or The Mystery of the Cave of Fire, 204,[8]pp. Probable second state, yellow-tan cloth covered boards; pictorial endpapers; Very Good in Good only jacket with splitting at flaps and chip at rear (priced $1.00 on verso).
3. Bomba The Jungle Boy at The Giant Cataract or Chief Nascanora and His Captives, 204,[8]pp. Probable second state in first state jacket; brownish tan cloth covered boards; Very Good in Very Good jacket with shallow loss to heel.
4. Bomba The Jungle Boy on Jaguar Island or Adrift on the River of Mystery, 209,[3]pp. Probable second state in first state jacket; brownish tan cloth covered boards; pictorial endpapers; Very Good in Good only jacket with horizontal tear near crown and splitting at flap.
5. Bomba The Jungle Boy in the Abandoned City or A Treasure Ten Thousand Years Old, 208,[4]pp. Probable second state in first state jacket; yellow-tan cloth covered boards; pictorial endpapers; Very Good in Very Good jacket with tear to front flap.
6. Bomba The Jungle Boy on Terror Trail or The Mysterious Men From the Sky, 208,[4]pp. Probable first state in first state jacket; brownish-tan cloth covered boards; plain endpapers; Very Good+ in Very Good+ jacket.
7. Bomba The Jungle Boy in the Swamp of Death or The Sacred Alligators of Abarago, 210,[2]pp. Probable second state in probable first state jacket; yellow-tan cloth covered boards; pictorial endpapers; Very Good+ in Very Good jacket.
8. Bomba The Jungle Boy Among the Slaves or Daring Adventures in the Valley of Skulls, 210,[2]pp. Probable second state in first state jacket; yellow-tan cloth covered boards; pictorial endpapers; Very Good+ in Very Good+ jacket.
9. Bomba The Jungle Boy on the Underground River or The Cave of Bottomless Pits, 204,[8]pp. Probable second state in second state jacket; yellow-tan cloth covered boards; pictorial endpapers; Very Good+ in Very Good jacket.
10. Bomba The Jungle Boy and The Lost Explorers or A Wonderful Revelation, 210,[2]pp. Probable second state in probable second state jacket; pictorial endpapers; Very Good+ in a Very Good jacket.
11. Bomba The Jungle Boy in a Strange Land or Facing the Unknown, 209,[3]pp. Probable second state in second state jacket; yellow-tan cloth covered boards; pictorial endpapers; Very Good+ in Very Good jacket with several closed tears.
12. Bomba The Jungle Boy Among The Pygmies or Battling With Stealthy Foes, 212pp. Probable first state in probable second state jacket; brownish-tan cloth covered boards; pictorial endpapers; Very Good+ in Very Good+ jacket (priced $1.00 on verso).
13. Bomba The Jungle Boy And The Cannibals or Winning Against Native Dangers, 207,[5]pp. Probable second state in second state jacket; yellow-tan cloth covered boards; pictorial endpapers; Very Good+ in Very Good jacket.
14. Bomba The Jungle Boy and The Painted Hunters or A Long Search Rewarded, 206,[6]pp. Probable second state in second state jacket; yellow-tan cloth covered boards; pictorial endpapers; Very Good+ in Very Good jacket.

The remaining titles conform to Mattson's first state boards and jackets, uniform with the second states of volumes 1-14, bound in yellow-tan boards; pictorial endpapers with full color (predominately brown and yellow) jacket art.

15. Bomba The Jungle Boy And The River Demons or Outwitting the Savage Medicine Man, 209,[3]pp., VG+/VG+.
16. Bomba The Jungle Boy And The Hostlie Chieftain or A Hazardous Trek to the Sea, 212pp., VG/VG
17. Bomba The Jungle Boy Trapped By The Cyclone or Shipwrecked on the Swirling Sea, 210,[2]pp., VG+/VG+
18. Bomba The Jungle Boy In The Land of Burning Lava or Outwitting Superstitious Natives, 206,[6]pp., VG+/VG+
19. Bomba The Jungle Boy In THe Perilous Kingdom or Braving Strange Hazards, 208,[4]pp., VG+/VG+
20. Bomba The Jungle Boy In The Steaming Grotto or Victorious Through Flame and Fury, 209,[3]pp., VG+/VG+

Credits for the illustrations are as follows: Walter S. Rogers (vols. 1-6); Howard L. Hastings (vols. 7-11, 13-20); A. Suk (vol. 12). Eight of the volumes have previous owner's inscriptions, five volumes have erased inscriptions, and seven are free from ownership markings. The dustjackets are all unclipped with an extensive list of additional publisher's titles on the verso. The front panels of the dustjackets are uniform, with the same artwork (by W.S Rogers), depicting Bomba standing with a bow in his left hand and a tiger's head emerging from the grass in the background. The top left of verso reads "50 cent books- For Boys". Volumes two and twelve read "$1.00 Net Books- For Boys" An uncommon complete run of this popular juvenile boys' series, all early issues in the uncommon pictorial dustwrappers.

The first half of the series takes place in South America, the latter in Africa. One theme that runs through the entire story is that because Bomba is white, his soul is awake. His friends, mostly dark skinned natives, have souls that are sleeping. In his book, Master of Adventure, Richard A. Lupoff describes the Bomba series as more blatantly racist than the often-criticized Tarzan books. (Last sentence of the first book: "...in an ecstasy of joy and pride... Look all of you..I am white! Bomba is white!") Twelve films based on the series were directed by Ford Beebe between 1949 and 1955, all starring Johnny Sheffield. Prior to the Bomba series, Sheffield was famous for playing the character "Boy" in eight of the Tarzan movies with actor Johnny Weissmuller as Tarzan.

MATTSON & DAVIS (A Collector's Guide to Hardcover Boys' Series Books, 1993) 09000. REGINALD 12316-12335. GLASHAN (Roy Rockwood A Brief Bibliography) RGL Edition (internet reference). seriesbook.info. isfdb (The Internet Speculative Fiction Database).