Philip José Farmer papers

Philip José Farmer papers, 1954-1984

Overview of the Collection

Creator: Farmer, Philip José
Title: Philip José Farmer papers
Dates: 1954-1984 (inclusive)
19541984
Quantity: 7 cubic ft. (7 boxes)
Collection Number: 08387
Summary: Philip José Farmer was an American author best known for his groundbreaking use of sexual themes in science fiction. This collection consists primarily of correspondence, manuscripts, and published works.
Repository: University of Wyoming, American Heritage Center
American Heritage Center
University of Wyoming
1000 E. University Ave.
Dept. 3924
Laramie, WY
82071
Telephone: 3077663756
ahcref@uwyo.edu
Access Restrictions: Access Restrictions
There are no access restrictions on the materials for research purposes, and the collection is open to the public.
Languages: English

Historical NoteReturn to Top

Philip José Farmer was born on January 26, 1918, in Terre Haute, Indiana, and grew up in Peoria, Illinois. In 1952, he won the first of three Hugo Awards for his novella, The Lovers, which is notable for its pioneering use of sexual themes in science fiction. He later won Hugo Awards for his novella, Riders of the Purple Wage, and To Your Scattered Bodies Go, the first book in his Riverworld Series, which ultimately comprised five novels and numerous short stories. In 1975, Venus on the Half-Shell was published under the pseudonym, Kilgore Trout, the fictional writer-protagonist of several Kurt Vonnegut novels. Throughout his career, Farmer wrote nearly 60 novels, and over 100 short stories and novellas. He died on February 25, 2009.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

The collection contains three boxes of Farmer's published work, including his novels (some in translation) and stories published in various science fiction periodicals. There are also many manuscripts, story notes, and character sketches. The collections also contains correspondence to and from Farmer, various personal papers, and printed material related to his involvement in the science fiction community.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Restrictions on Use

Copyrights are retained by donor. The researcher assumes full responsibility for observing all copyright, property, and libel laws as they apply.

Preferred Citation

Item Description, Box Number, Folder Number, Collection Name, Collection Number, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Arrangement

The collection is arranged into four series. The first four series (Writings, Correspondence, Personal Papers, and Audio/Visual Material) contain primary source material from Farmer. The fifth series is comprised of published material created or collected by Farmer.

Related Materials

There are no other known archival collections related to Philip José Farmer.

Acquisition Information

This material was received from Philip José Farmer between 1983 and 1985.

Processing Note

Processing Information

The collection was processed by Ben Goldman in May 2011.

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

Series I. WritingsReturn to Top

Farmer's writings consist mostly of manuscripts for his novels and short works. Also included in this series are considerable story and research notes for his Riverworld series. Also included are manuscripts for speeches and a bibliography of Farmer's writings compiled by a researcher.

Container(s)		Description	Dates
Box	Folder
3	4-5	"A Barnstormer in Oz," manuscript,	undated
3	6	"A Slender Tribute to a Big Man, or Bob Bloch: Pre- and Post-Psycho," manuscript,	undated
3	7	"After the Word," drafts and manuscripts,	undated
3	8	Bibliography of Philip José Farmer, by George H. Scheetz,	undated
3	9	Forewords and Introductions to other works, manuscripts,	undated
3	10	"The Freshman",	undated
3	11	"The Image of the Beast" (galley proofs),	undated
3	12-14	"Jesus on Mars," manuscripts,	undated
3	15	"The Lovers," manuscripts,	undated
3	16-17	"The Magic Labyrinth" (working copy), manuscript,	undated
3	18	"The Man Who Came For Christmas," manuscript,	undated
4	1	"Maps and Spasms," manuscript,	undated
4	2	"Mark Twain and Kurt Vonnegut Versus Free Will," manuscript,	undated
4	3	Miscellaneous manuscripts and story notes,	undated
4	4	Miscellaneous story notes and research material,	undated
4	5	"No Americas Parallel World" story notes,	undated
4	6	"Owe For a River," manuscript,	undated
4	7	"Ramstan" ("The Unreasoning Mask"), manuscript,	undated
4	8	"Rip Van Winkle's Pluvial Dream," manuscript,	undated
4	9	Riverworld Series, character sketches for "Jill Gulberra",	undated
4	10	Riverworld Series, miscellaneous drafts and notes,	undated
4	11	Riverworld Series, research notes on airships and balloons,	undated
4	12	Riverworld Series, story notes,	undated
4	13-15	"Riverworld Series, Volume III," ("The Dark Design," "The Magic Labyrinth"), manuscript,	undated
4	16	Speeches,	undated
4	17	"Thieves World" anthology, manuscript,	undated
4	19	Untitled Tarzan manuscript,	undated
4	20-21	"The Unreasoning Mask," manuscript,	undated
4	22	"Up, Out, and Over, Roger," manuscript,	undated

Series II. CorrespondenceReturn to Top

This series contains ten folders of correspondence to and from Philip José Farmer.

Container(s)		Description	Dates
Box	Folder
1	2	Correspondence,	1963-1977
1	3	Correspondence,	1978
1	4-5	Correspondence,	1979
1	6-7	Correspondence,	1980
1	8	Correspondence,	1981-1982
1	9	Correspondence,	1983
1	10	Correspondence,	undated

Series III. Personal PapersReturn to Top

This series consists of Farmer's personal calendars and other personal documents such as receipts and contracts, and includes a folder of science fiction manuscripts from other authors.

Container(s)		Description	Dates
Box	Folder
2	1	Calendars,	1974, 1980
2	2	Miscellaneous documents	circa 1960s-1980s
4	18	Miscellaneous manuscripts authored by others,	undated

Series IV. Audio/Visual MaterialReturn to Top

This series consists of one folder of photographs and one audio recording of a radio interview with Farmer.

Container(s)		Description	Dates
Box	Folder
1	1	Philip José Farmer interview, Science Fiction Radio Show,	1983
2	3	Photographs,	undated

Series V. Printed MaterialReturn to Top

This series is divided into four sub-series: Books, Newspapers Clippings, Periodicals, and Miscellaneous.

Container(s)		Description	Dates
		Sub-Series 1. Books Most of the books in this sub-series are Farmer's novels. A small selection of these books are Farmer's works in translation. Some books are anthologies that include stories from Farmer, while one is a biographical work about Farmer.
Box
6		A Barnstormer in Oz
6		A Feast Unknown (2 copies)
6		A Private Cosmos (2 copies)
6		A Woman a Day (2 copies)
6		Behind the Walls of Terra (3 copies)
6		Blown
6		Cache from Outer Space
6		Dark is the Sun
6		Doc Savage
6		Down in the Black Gang (3 copies)
6		Father of the Stars (2 copies)
6		Flesh (2 copies)
6		Greatheart Silver
6		Inside Outside (3 copies)
6		Ironcastle
6		Jesus on Mars (3 copies)
6		Lord of the Trees (3 copies)
6		Lord Tyger (2 copies)
6		Night of Light
6		Riverworld and Other Stories
6		Riverworld War, The Suppressed Fiction of Philip José Farmer
6		Strange Relations (2 copies)
6		Tarzan Alive
6		The Book of Philip José Farmer: Master Stories by a Matchless SF Tale-Spinner
6		The Cache (2 copies)
6		The Dark Design
6		The Green Odyssey
6		The Image of the Beast (2 copies)
6		The Lavalite World (2 copies)
6		The Lovers
6		The Magic Labyrinth (2 copies)
6		The Other Log of Phileas Fogg
6		The Purple Book
6		The Unreasoning Mask (2 copies)
6		The Unreasoning Mask (Uncorrected Proof) (2 copies)
6		The Wind Whales of Ishmael (3 copies)
6		Time's Last Gift (2 copies)
6		Tongues of the Moon
6		Traitor to the Living (2 copies)
6		Venus on the Half-Shell (written under the pseudonym, Kilgore Trout) (2 copies)
6		Philip José Farmer. Starmont Reader's Guide 3, by Mary T. Brizzi
7		Philip José Farmer books in translation (German, French, Spanish, and others), 28 books total
7		Modern Science Fiction, Ed. Norman Spinrad
7		Weird Heroes: A New American Pulp! Volume 1, Ed. Byron Preiss
7		Weird Heroes: A New American Pulp! Volume 2, Ed. Byron Preiss
7		Dream Makers: The Uncommon People Who Write Science Fiction: Interviews by Charles Platt, Ed. Charles Platt
7		Alpha 4 (2 copies), Ed. Robert Silverberg
7		The Best Science Fiction of the Year, Ed. Terry Carr
7		The Best Science Fiction of the Year #3, Ed. Terry Carr
7		Seekers of Tomorrow: Masters of Modern Science Fiction, by Sam Moskovitz
		Sub-Series 2. Miscellaneous Printed Material The miscellaneous printed materials include fanzines, newsletters, documentation related to various literary organizations, book catalogs, and promotional material related to Farmer's books.
Box	Folder
2	4	Armed Services Technological Information Agency reports,	1961
2	5	Berkeley Science Fiction Newsletter,	1980, 1983
2	6	Book catalogs,	1979-1983
2	7	Comic Books, "The Image of the Beast",	1973
2	8	Conference and event documents,	circa-1970s-1980s
2	9	Doc Savage, miscellaneous,	1982, undated
2	10	Edgar Wallace Society newsletters,	1978-1982
2	11	"Farmerage," Philip José Farmer Society,	1978-1979
2	12	International Wizard of Oz Club,	1975-1982
2	13	J. T. Edson Appreciation Society newsletters,	1982-1983
2	14	Miscellaneous newsletters, pamphlets,	circa 1970s-1980s
2	15	Promotional material for Farmer's books,	undated
2	16	Sherlock Holmes, including newsletters from the Hansoms of John Clayton, Sherlock Holmes Society of Peoria,	1978-1983
2	17-18	"The Baum Bugle,"	1961-1982
2	19	"ERB-dom" (Edgar Rice Burroughs fanzine),	circa 1960s-1970s
2	20	Miscellaneous magazines,	1909, 1954, 1980
2	21	Miscellaneous science fiction magazines,	1977-1982
2	22	"Normal Bean,"	undated
2	23	"Oziana," and other L. Frank Baum-related publications,	1976, 1980
2	24	Science Fiction fanzines,	1978-1983
2	25	"Science Fiction Review,"	1978-1982
3	1-2	Science Fiction Writers of America (SFWA), miscellaneous documents and directories,	circa 1970s-1980s
3	3	Tarzan and Edgar Rice Burroughs, miscellaneous,	circa 1970s
		Sub-Series 3. News Clippings
Box	Folder
1	11-14	Newspaper Clippings,	circa-1960s-1980s
		Sub-Series 4. Science Fiction Periodicals The periodicals all contain stories from (or features on) Philip José Farmer, grouped by publication.
Box
5		"Amazing Science Fiction" (7 issues)	1961-1984
5		"Beyond Fantasy Fiction" (2 issues),	1954
5		"Fantastic Stories" (2 issues)	1963, 1976
5		"Fantastic Universe" (4 issues)	1954
5		"Fiction" (7 issues)	1954-1962
5		"Galaxie" (5 issues)	1970-1972
5		"Galaxy Magazine" (4 issues)	1964, 1969, 1972
5		"IF Science Fiction" (10 issues),	1960-1971
5		"The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction" (39 issues)	1953-1979
5		"Saint Mystery Magazine" (1 issue)	1962
5		"Strange Fantasy" (1 issue)	Spring 1969
5		"Worlds of Tomorrow" (4 issues)	1966-1967

Additional Container ListsReturn to Top

The American Heritage Center is in the process of converting its older container lists to a more accessible format. This link is to an older version of a container list.

Container(s)	Description
	Link to Accessioning Worksheet (PDF)

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