Special Collections Library, California State University, Fullerton
Bowling Green State University Popular Culture Library
The Philip K. Dick materials at the Bowling Green State University Popular Culture Library, Bowling green, Ohio. August 1997.
Thanks to Patrick Clark for supplying the list of items.
MANUSCRIPTS
1. “The Hour of the T.E.N.C.H.” Draft of novel, 224 typewritten pages with many minor corrections in ink throughout. This novel was published by Doubleday in 1970 under the title A Maze of Death.
NOTES
1. “Notes on the Tench Novel.” 16 typewritten pages numbered 1-12, 3-6 (possibly intended to be 13-16). Ideas, character descriptions and plot lines for the novel.
2. Handwritten notes used as a basis for “Notes on the Tench Novel.” Four sheets of typing paper, folded in half, with writing on the recto and verso. Pages are variously numbered: 1-2, 9, 12, 13, and some unnumbered.
3. Handwritten notes for another novel, Our Friends from Frolix 9. Five sheets of typing paper, folded in half, with writing on the recto and verso, and one sheet of unfolded lined notebook paper numbered 1-9. Ideas, characters and plot lines. This novel was published by Ace Books in 1970 under the title Our Friends from Frolix 8.
4. Handwritten notes dealing with Roger Zelazny’s novel, Lord of Light. One sheet of typing paper, folded in half, with writing on recto and verso. See letter from Philip K. Dick to Roger Zelazny; November 13, 1968.
LETTERS
1. 35 letters from Jan 17 through December 19, 1968 including four with no dates plus three royalty statements. 11 letters are from Philip K. Dick and consist of unsigned carbon copies. 26 letters to Philip K. Dick are originals. Correspondents include Dick’s literary agent, Scott Meredith; his editor at Doubleday, Larry Ashmead; his editors at Ace Books, Terry Carr and Donald Wollheim; Edward Freeman, editor of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction; and fellow science fiction authors John Brunner, Roger Zelazny, and Philip Jose Farmer. See calendar of letters.
Calendar of letters in the Philip K. Dick Collection at the Bowling Green State University Popular Culture Library, Bowling Green, Ohio. August 1997.
1968
JAN 17 LAWRENCE P. ASHMEAD TO PKD. Cover letter accompanying the jacket artwork for Ubik (by Peter Rauch) and asking Phil to meet Diane Cleaver, a Doubleday editor, at the SWFA conference.
JAN 20 SIDNEY MEREDITH TO PKD. Announces the sale for a Dutch edition of Solar Lottery for $207 — half going to Phil and half to Ace Books.
FEB 4 TERRY CARR TO PKD. Cover letter accompanying proofs for The Preserving Machine and photocopy of the book jacket artwork. Problems with the typesetter precludes copies for advance reviews but Carr will solicit input of Brunner, Boucher, and Ellison by phone.
FEB 5 ROBERT L. BROWN TO ACE BOOKS. Request for biographical information for a bibliography, part of a library science assignment by Brown.
MAR 10 LAWRENCE P. ASHMEAD TO PKD. Announces that Ubik will be a Science Fiction Book Club selection. $1,000 advance against a 6 cents royalty for every copy sold.
MAY 23 SIDNEY MEREDITH TO PKD. Announces sale of German rights to Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep for $375. Encloses German tax forms for Phil to sign.
MAY 26 PKD TO SIDNEY MEREDITH. Cover letter with returned German tax forms.
MAY 29 LAWRENCE P. ASHMEAD TO PKD. Questions about Ubik cover art. Congratulates Phil on the sale of the movie rights to Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. Doubleday will alter the dedication to that work in the next printing as Phil has requested.
JUNE 26 BILL DRAER TO PKD. Asks Phil if he will sit on a panel (with Norman Spinrad, Poul Anderson and Richard Alpert) dealing with psychedelics at BayCon in August. Remarks that “You are mentioned are[sic; as] the foremost psychedelic writer.”
AUG 29 MARCIA M. HOWELL TO PKD. Cover letter with Doubleday royalty statements for the six months 4/30/68. $6.32 for Now Wait for Last Year; $671.38 for Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep.
SEPT 30 SCOTT MEREDITH TO PKD. Cover letter accompanying check for $1350. Doubleday “very anxious about DEUS IRAE” and would “like to contract for THE NAME OF THE GAME IS DEATH as soon as possible.” Essex House is interested in seeing any unpublished novels and Collier Books is interested in “doing some science-fiction collections from name authors” and they’ve asked about Phil as one such author.
OCT 17 DONALD WOLLHEIM TO PKD. Explores the possibility of Phil doing another novel for Ace.
OCT 22 PKD TO DONALD WOLLHEIM. Informs Wollheim that he has just sent A Maze of Death to Meredith. He is interested in doing another novel for Ace and asks “do you want me to handle any particular theme? Do you want me to avoid any particular theme (such as reality-versus-illusion, for example)?”
OCT 22 PKD TO SCOTT MEREDITH. Suggests that if Larry Ashmead does not want A Maze of Death perhaps Meredith can offer it to Wollheim.
OCT 22 MARCIA H. HOWELL TO PKD. Cover letter accompanying contracts for The Preserving Machine.
OCT 31 HYAKAWA SHOBO & CO. LTD. TO PKD. Informs Phil that they have sent, per his request, five copies of the Japanese edition of The Man in the High Castle under separate cover — cost to be deducted from his Japanese royalties. Also provides the address of the Japanese translator.
NOV 2 EDWARD L. FREEMAN TO PKD. Requests a short story to be published in the 20th Anniversary issue (October 1969) of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction.
NOV 6 TERRY CARR TO PKD. Reply to Phil’s letter concerning copyrights for the stories in The Preserving Machine. Offers to consider any new novel Phil might want to write for Carr’s Ace Specials at $2500. against 6%-8% royalties.
NOV 7 TERRY CARR TO PKD. Cover letter accompanying a set of proof pages of John Brunner’s The Jagged Orbit and a request for comments on this work.
NOV 11 PKD TO TERRY CARR. Reaction to The Jagged Orbit. Very favorable.
NOV 12 TERRY CARR TO PKD. Informs Phil that copies of the stories in The Preserving Machine are being returned under separate cover. Renews his offer to consider any new novel for his line of Specials.
NOV 13 PKD TO TERRY CARR. Informs Carr that Doubleday bought his new novel [A Maze of Death] but that he is working on a new novel and has sent three and a half chapters and an outline to Wollheim. Suggests sending proofs for The Preserving Machine to John Brunner, Robert Silverberg, Harlan Ellison “(although he might excoriate it)” and Roger Zelazny.
NOV 13 PKD TO ROGER ZELAZNY. [4 pages] Long letter of praise for Zelazny’s novel The Lord of Light giving 15 reasons why it is excellent and 23 individual passages with pages numbers and why they appealed to him. Plus two complaints. Discusses their continuing collaboration on Deus Irae and speaks favorably of Brunner’s The Jagged Orbit.
NOV 14 PKD TO PHILIP JOSE FARMER. [3 pages] Discusses the life of a writer and the changes that have occurred in science fiction in the last decade. “Do you think Riders, LORD OF LIGHT, my THREE STIGMATA could have been written and sold ten years ago? And could we have written them?” Speaks about the changes in his writing since The Man in the High Castle: “I put all the literary skills I have into my s-f, my marketable work.” Talks about the utter loneliness of writers and a particular dream he had recently in which he heard the voice of God speaking the words, “There she shall be taken upward and there she shall be repaid. And I made her see the sea.” and remarking that “It’s not my style; I wouldn’t use phononyms such as <
NOV 15 PKD TO MARCIA M. HOWELL. In answer to Ed Ferman’s request for a short story, Phil tells Howell he is very interested in writing one and asks her to thank Ferman for the offer.
NOV 21 JOHN BRUNNER TO PKD. [2 pages] Thanks Phil for his praise of The Jagged Orbit. Asks him to read A Stand On Zanzibar and, if he likes the book, would he “tell a few people in places where a plug would do me good?”
DEC 5 PKD TO ALEXEI PANSHIN. Disagrees with Poul Anderson’s objections to printing Philip Jose Farmer’s speech given at BayCon. Phil calls Farmer’s speech “a major and important contribution to the evolving thought of the world of science fiction.”
DEC 7 PKD TO JOHN BRUNNER. Agrees to gladly read A Stand On Zanzibar and “if I like it as much as I am sure I will” to nominate it for a Nebula Award. Remarks how close he felt to Brunner while reading A Jagged Orbit.
DEC 8 PKD TO SHOKICKI KAWAGUCHI. Kawaguchi translated The Man in the High Castle into Japanese. Asks about the reaction in Japan to the book, whether his portrayal of the Japanese manner of speaking was convincing and Phil’s own very positive views of the Japanese people.
DEC 12 JOHN BRUNNER TO PKD. [2 pages] Announces that a copy of A Stand on Zanzibar is on its way from Doubleday. Discusses the fate of such words as “fulsome,” “discomfited,” and “decimate.” Compliments Phil on his own writing and his “exceptional sensitivity to people and situations.”
DEC 19 TERRY CARR TO PKD. Asks if Phil wants to write an introduction to The Preserving Machine. Remarks that “van Vogt says he wants to read the collection.”
No Date PETER WESTON TO PKD [post July]. Form letter announcing a special feature in the magazine Speculation on Robert Heinlein’s thirty years in science fiction. Typed across the top of the sheet are the words, “Dear Mr. Dick: I wonder if you would like to contribute towards this feature?”
No Date ARTHUR J. HILLEN TO PKD [c. late November/ early December]. A fan letter praising Phil’s works.
No Date R. REGINALD TO PKD. Form letter accompanying a questionnaire seeking biographical information for a proposed listing of science fiction writers to be published by “The Name of IV” — a “loose group of fans.”
No Date R. REGINALD TO PKD. Letter of thanks to Phil for responding to “The Name of IV” request. Asks for additional information, specifically, the names of his wives, the dates of his marriages, the name of the college he attended and the dates of attendance.