Anne McCaffrey papers
Collection Scope and Contents
The Anne McCaffrey papers is comprised of manuscripts, galley proofs, notes, correspondence, and other material related to the writings of Anne McCaffrey between 1957-1999. Although this collection does not span McCaffrey's entire career, it offers a representative sample of her literary opus. This collection primarily contains material regarding her signature works of science fiction and fantasy but also includes McCaffrey's early essays, unpublished works, and books she wrote on various other topics such as romance, horse breeding, and cooking.
For some publications there is complete documentation, from research notes and drafts all the way through galley proofs. However, a majority of the publications are represented with only one or two of these document types. The material in this collection regarding her book series' Dragonriders of Pern and Harper Hall are the most complete. The collection also contains drafts for the books that McCaffrey wrote in cooperation with Margaret Ball (Partnership) and Joy Lynn Nye (Crisis on Doona and Dragonlover’s Guide to Pern). Additionally, the collection contains material for the anthology Alchemy and Academe edited by McCaffrey, the Ship who Sang that she wrote for the anthology Far Horizons edited by Bob Silverberg, the The N Auntie that she wrote for the anthology David Copperfield’s Beyond Imagination edited by David Copperfield, Janet Berliner, and Cathie Bleck, and The Quest of a Sensible Man that she wrote for the anthology Once Upon a Time edited by Lester del Rey and Lisa Kessler.
Whenever manuscripts have extensive hand annotations, it was noted in the folder description. The manuscript drafts are largely undated so the dates provided in the Sub-series Scope and Content Summaries are based purely on the publication date. Sub-series titles are derived from the title of the written work to which the material relates and are ordered alphabetically.
The collection also contains an unprocessed addition (Accession MS-2014-0008), 1990-1999, consisting of 15.43 linear feet.
Dates
- Creation: 1957-1999, undated
- Creation: Majority of material found within 1981-1999
Creator
- McCaffrey, Anne (Person)
Languages
The collection is in English.
Access
This collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
Copyright Unknown: Some materials in these collections may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). In addition, the reproduction, and/or commercial use, of some materials may be restricted by gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions, privacy and publicity rights, licensing agreement(s), and/or trademark rights. Distribution or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. To the extent other restrictions apply, permission for distribution or reproduction from the applicable rights holder is also required. Responsibility for obtaining permissions, and for any use rests exclusively with the user.
Biographical Note
On April 1, 1926, Anne Inez McCaffrey was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts to George Herbert McCaffrey and Anne Dorothy McElroy McCaffrey. Her father was a United States Army Colonel and her mother worked as an advertising copywriter in Boston. In 1947, McCaffrey graduated cum laude from Radcliffe College, majoring in Slavonic Languages and Literatures. Her unpublished honors thesis was titled Eugene Ivanovich Zamiatin, with Special Emphasis on His Utopian novel, We. A copy of the thesis is in the manuscript division of the George Arents Library in Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York. In 1948 McCaffrey worked in New York City as a copywriter and layout artist for the Liberty Music Shops. There she wrote advertisements based on lines from Bartlett’s Famous Quotations. She also worked as the Secretary to the Sales Manager of Helena Rubenstein, Inc.
During the late forties McCaffrey was also involved in St. John Terrill’s first musical circus in Lambertsville, New Jersey. In 1958, the family moved to Wilmington, Delaware, where she joined the Brecks Mill Cronies and studied voice under Ted Huang, the Choir Master. In 1963 the family moved to Düsseldorf, Germany, where McCaffrey studied voice under Ron Stewart. As final act of her theater career McCaffrey directed the American premiere of Carl Orff’s Ludus de Nato Infante Mirificus, in which she also played a witch.
Concurrently with her involvement in theater, McCaffrey wrote and published a number of science fiction short stories. Her first story Freedom of the Race was published in October 1953. In 1963, Virginia Kidd became McCaffrey’s literary agent. Encouraged by the science fiction writer Robert Silverberg, McCaffrey decided to become a full-time writer in 1965 and has gone on to have an illustrious career as an author spanning more than forty years.
- 1926
- Anne Inez McCaffrey was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts on April 1st.
- 1947
- Graduated cum laude from Radcliffe College, majoring in Slavonic Languages and Literatures. Her unpublished honors thesis was titled Eugene Ivanovich Zamiatin, with Special Emphasis on His Utopian novel, We.
- 1953
- Published her first story, Freedom of the Race, in Science Fiction Plus.
- 1967
- Published Dragonrider, Part One of Two Parts and Weyr Search in Analog.
- 1967
- Published first novel Restoree.
- 1968
- Received Nebula Award for Dragonrider in the Best Novella category.
- 1968
- Published Dragonrider, Part Two of Two Parts in Analog.
- 1968
- Received Hugo Award for Weyr Search in the Best Novella category.
- 1971
- Published Dragonquest and Ring of Fear.
- 1973
- Published Cooking Out of This World, a collection of favorite recipes by science fiction writers.
- 1976
- Published Dragonsong.
- 1976
- Received E. E. Smith Memorial Award for Imaginative Fiction.
- 1977
- Published Dragonsinger.
- 1977
- Published the short story collection Get Off the Unicorn.
- 1978
- Published Dinosaur Planet, The White Dragon, and The Dragonriders of Pern.
- 1979
- Received the Australian Ditmar Award and the English Gandalf Award for The White Dragon.
- 1980
- Received the Balrog Award for Outstanding Achievement and Best Novel in the Fantasy category for Dragondrums.
- 1980
- Received the European Stresa Eurocon Award for The White Dragon.
- 1982
- Published The Crystal Singer.
- 1985
- Published Killashandra.
- 1986
- Received her first Book of the Year Award presented by the Science Fiction Book Club for Killashandra.
- 1999
- Received the Julie Award for a Lifetime of Distinguished Service Throughout the Fantastic Arts presented to her at DragonCon in Atlanta, Georgia.
- 1999
- Received the Margaret A. Edwards Lifetime Literary Achievement Award.
- 2004
- Received the L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Lifetime Achievement Award.
- 2011
- Anne McCaffrey passed away at her home in Ireland.
Extent
42.92 Linear Feet (103 boxes)
Abstract
The Anne McCaffrey papers is comprised of manuscripts, galley proofs, notes, correspondence, and other material related to the writings of Anne McCaffrey between 1957-1999. Although this collection does not span McCaffrey's entire career, it offers a representative sample of her literary opus. This collection primarily contains material regarding her signature works of science fiction and fantasy but also includes McCaffrey's early essays, unpublished works, and books she wrote on various other topics such as romance, horse breeding, and cooking.
Collection Arrangement
This collection is arranged into four series as follows:
- Series 1. Published works, 1957-1999, undated
- Series 2. Unpublished works, 1961-1984, undated
- Series 3. Correspondence and other material, 1974-1998, undated
- Series 4. Unprocessed addition, circa 1990-1999
Acquisition Information
Gifts of Anne McCaffrey in 1992 and Gigi Kennedy in 2014.
Processing History
Processed by Vlasta Radan, 2010.
Genre / Form
Topical
- Title
- Anne McCaffrey papers
- Status
- Processed
- Author
- Finding aid prepared by Vlasta Radan.
- Date
- 2010
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Description is in English.
Repository Details
Part of the Manuscript Collections Repository
University of California
Rivera Library
P.O. Box 5900
Riverside 92517-5900 USA
specialcollections@ucr.edu