Fred Saberhagen Papers, 1960-2013 | Northern Illinois University

Collection Overview

Title: Fred Saberhagen Papers, 1960-2013

ID: RBSC/SFWA/053

Primary Creator: Saberhagen, Fred (1930-2007)

Extent: 42.0 Linear Feet

Arrangement: Series I is Novels, Series II is Short Stories, Series III consists of Correspondence, Series IV is Miscellaneous, Series V contains Entertainment Adapted from Novels, and Series VI is Media.

Date Acquired: 12/00/2011. More info below under Accruals.

Subjects: Berserker, Saberhagen, Fred, Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America

Forms of Material: fantasy, science fiction

Scope and Contents of the Materials

The Fred Saberhagen Papers consists of printed (paper-based) and handwritten edited manuscripts (mostly of his novels), a small amount of short stories, correspondence associated with those materials, and some miscellaneous materials. The collection is divided into series based upon format. Series I consists of novels, Series II includes short stories, Series III contains correspondence, Series IV is miscellaneous, Series V is Entertainment Media Adapted from Novels, and Series VI is Media. Each Series is broken down into book series by date of publication. For example, Series I: Novels starts with his Berserker series (which was his first series) and each of the books in this series are placed in order by date of publication.

The order of his written materials is as follows: Berserker series, Empire of the East series, Vlad Tepes series, Mask of the Sun series, Book of the Swords series, Book of the Lost Swords series, Books of the Gods series, Standalone novels, Omnibus, Collections, Book series Saberhagen contributed to, Anthologies he edited, Anthologies containing his stories, and ending with short stories.

An Addendum was added on 8-28-2014 that added material to Series I, II, III, and IV and created Series V and VI. Another Addendum was added on 8-28-2015 that added material to Series I.

Collection Historical Note

Fred Saberhagen was a Science Fiction and Fantasy author known for his short stories, science fiction novels, and his Berserker series. He was born on May 18, 1930 and he passed away on June 29, 2007. In his lifetime he wrote seventy plus short stories and more than seventy of his novels were published. He grew up in Chicago, but later moved to New Mexico. His fantasy readers know him for his Lost Swords series and another popular series was the Dracula series in which the story is told from the vampire’s point of view. He also created the Books of the Gods which were retellings of myths from different cultures. He co-authored two novels with Roger Zelazny and one with James V Hart. In his early years he served in the U.S. airforce, worked as an electronics technician for Motorola, and wrote/edited pieces for the Encyclopedia Britannica. He began writing seriously around the age of 30 and his 1^st sale was to Galaxy magazine that put his short story “volume PAA-PYX’ into its 1961 publication. In 1964 he had his 1^st novel published, ‘the Golden People’. He leaves behind his wife, Joan, two sons, and a daughter. For more information on Saberhagen and his works, please see his website: www.berserker.com

Subject/Index Terms

Berserker
Saberhagen, Fred
Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America

Administrative Information

Repository: Northern Illinois University

Accruals: Additions by Joan Saberhagen: 01/20/2012, 03/02/2012, 03/16/2012, 05/14/2012, 07/02/2012, 08/23/2012, 05/02/2013, 11/2013, 10/7/2015, 11/05/2015, 01/20/2017, 12/14/2018

Access Restrictions: Photographs and photocopies of collection are prohibited.

Use Restrictions: Property Rights are transferred to the University Libraries per the signed Deed of Gift Document. Literary Rights are retained by the content creator. Any copyrights so stated in the materials remain in force.

Acquisition Source: Joan Saberhagen

Acquisition Method: Mailed to RBSC by Joan Saberhagen, Fred's wife.

Related Materials: For more information please see http://www.berserker.com.

Box and Folder Listing

Browse by Series:

[Series I: Novels],
[Series II: Short Stories],
[Series III: Correspondence],
[Series IV: Miscellaneous],
[Series V: Entertainment Media Adapted From Novels],
[Series VI: Media],
[All]

Series III: Correspondence

Box 1

Folder 1: The Veils of Azlorac [letter to Virginia from Frederik Pohl re: Fred's manuscript], 8/27/1975
Folder 2: The Veils of Azlorac [letter from Saberhagen to Frederik Pohl re: basic idea for manuscript], 9/2/1975
Folder 3: Specimens [rejection letter from Lee Wright|Random House Inc.], 12/12/1973
Folder 4: Specimens [rejection letter from Ruth Pollack|Harper and Row Publishers Inc.], 12/14/1973
Folder 5: Specimens [rejection letter from Diane Cleaver|Double Day], 12/17/1973
Folder 6: Specimens [letter to Ms. Pollack from Saberhagen re: manuscript submission], 1/25/1974
Folder 7: Specimens [letter to Diane Cleaver from Saberhagen re: manuscript submission], 1/25/1974
Folder 8: Specimens [letter from Roger Elwood to Saberhagen re: Harlequin submission], 4/3/1974
Folder 9: Specimens [rejection letter from Judy-Lynn delRey|Ballantine Books], 5/14/1974
Folder 10: Specimens [letter from Fred Saberhagen to Roger re: outlines and chapters], 5/15/1974
Folder 11: Specimens [rejection letter from Charles Platt|Avon books], 6/1974
Folder 12: Specimens [letter from Lee to Ms. Virginia Kidd re: Saberhagen's manuscript], 12/10/1974
Folder 13: Specimens [rejection letter from Ellen Asher to James Allen re: Saberhagen's manuscript], 10/3/1975
Folder 14: Specimens [payment letter from Popular Library], 1/17/1976
Folder 15: Specimens [rejection letter from Roger Elwood|Harlequin], no date
Folder 16: Octagon [letter from Eleanor Wood|Spectrum|to Saberhagen re: manuscript requirements and the sale of Ace books, 1/25/1978
Folder 17: Octagon [letter from Rick to Saberhagen re: mentioning STARWEB in novel], 2/17/1978
Folder 18: Octagon [letter from Eleanor Wood|Spectrum|to Saberhagen re: outline], 3/19/1978
Folder 19: Octagon [letter from Saberhagen to Jim re: novel so far and its main points], 2/12/1979
Folder 20: Bram Stoker's Dracula[coauthored with James V Hart] [letter from Esther Margolis to Fred re: copies of Dracula screenplay], 3/27/1992
Folder 21: Bram Stoker's Dracula[coauthored with James V Hart] [letter from Esther Margolis to Fred re: contacts and shooting script], 3/31/1992
Folder 22: Bram Stoker's Dracula[coauthored with James V Hart] [letter from Esther Margolis to Fred re: color xeroxes of Dracula], 4/7/1992
Folder 23: Bram Stoker's Dracula[coauthored with James V Hart] [letter from Eleanor Wood to Fred re: contracts for novelization], 4/27/1992

Box 2

Addendum 1: Box 2 is an addendum to Series III: Correspondence

Folder 1: Love Conquers All [author's handwritten notes and copy of Galaxy (serialization) payment, dedication on file folder that didn't make it to book] various pages, 1973 to 1974
Folder 2: Azlaroc [letter from author to a man named Fred], 9/2/75
Folder 3: Berserker Raids-Game [correspondence regarding the Berserker Raids game], 8/1981 to 8/1983
Folder 4: Gaming [various correspondence concerning the production and distrubtion of Fred's games], 7/1985 to 6/1986
Folder 5: Gaming [emails regarding the productions of Fred's games], 6/2/2002
Folder 6: [various emails from the author and his wife to editors, publishers, fans, etc.], 4/8/96 to 12/30/96
Folder 7: [various emails from the author and his wife; numerous fan mail], 1/1997 to 6/1997
Folder 8: [various emails from the author and his wife; numerous fan mail], 7/1997 to 12/1997
Folder 9: [various emails to the author, mostly fan mail], 1/1998 to 6/1998
Folder 10: [various emails to the author, mostly fan mail], 7/1998 to 12/1998
Folder 11: [various emails to the author, mostly fan mail], 1/1999 to 5/1999
Folder 12: [various emails to the author, mostly fan mail], 6/1999 to 12/1999
Folder 13: [various emails to the author, mostly fan mail], 1/2000 to 5/2000
Folder 14: [various emails to the author, mostly fan mail], 6/2000 to 8/2000
Folder 15: [various emails to the author, mostly fan mail], 9/2000 to 12/2000
Folder 16: [various emails to the author, mostly fan mail], 1/2001 to 4/2001
Folder 17: [various emails to the author, mostly fan mail], 5/2001 to 7/2001
Folder 18: [various emails to the author, mostly fan mail], 8/2001 to 12/2001
Folder 19: [various letters and emails between the author, colleagues, and fans], 1/2002 to 5/2002
Folder 20: [various letters and emails between the author, colleagues, and fans], 6/2002 to 12/2002
Folder 21: [various letters and emails between the author, colleagues, and fans], 1/2003 to 6/2003
Folder 22: [various letters and emails between the author, colleagues, and fans], 7/2003 to 12/2003
Folder 23: [various emails to the author, mostly fan mail], 1/2004 to 6/2004
Folder 24: [various emails to the author, mostly fan mail], 7/2004 to 12/2004
Folder 25: [various correspondence with the author, mostly fan mail], 1/2005 to 12/2005
Folder 26: [fan mail], 1/2006 to 11/2006
Folder 27: Various emails to author, fan email, emails to colleagues, 11/6/1997
Folder 28: Letter from Andrew Porter (publisher of ALGOL) to Saberhagen re: article for magazine, 3/23/1977
Folder 29: Letter from Saberhagen to Andrew Porter (publisher of ALGOL) re: article for magazine, 3/30/1977
Folder 30: Rejection letter from Houghton Mifflin re: Men and Mars, 12/10/1970
Folder 31: Letter from Houghton Mifflin editorial dept (Marcia Shahan) requesting sample chapters from Men and Mars, 8/10/1970
Folder 32: Drafts of Saberhagen's response to Houghton Mifflin (Shahan) re: Men and Mars, 2pgs, 10/21/1970
Folder 33: Reciept of samples of Men and Mars from Houghton Mifflin, 11/5/1970
Folder 34: Rejection letter from Macmillan re: Men and Mars, n.d.
Folder 35: Rejection letter from Random House, Inc, n.d.
Folder 36: Rejection letter from Norton & Company re: Men and Mars, 7/31/1970
Folder 37: Cover letter to possible publishers from Saberhagen re: Men and Mars, 5/5/1970
Folder 38: draft of coverletter to possible publishers from Saberhagen re Men and Mars; typed w/handwritten notes, n.d.
Folder 39: Letter to Saberhagen from V. Gerardis re: Berserker screenplay script, 1/3/2001
Folder 40: Leter to V. Gereardis from Saberhagen re: Berserker screenplay script, n.d.
Folder 41: Note to Joan Saberhagen in thanks of participation in ENMU's Williamson Lectureship, 5/1/2015
Folder 42: Various Letters, 1972-2007: Addendum 3: Folders 42-45 are an addendum to Series III: Correspondence
Folder 43: Correspondence with Russian Agent, 1986-1994
Folder 44: Fan Mail, 1973-2005
Folder 45: Public Speaking Correspondence, 1983-2005

Box 3

Addendum 3: Box 3 is an addendum to Series III: Correspondence

Folder 1: Science Fiction Conventions Correspondence with Notes, 1985-2006