19 Letters and 6 Typescripts
Archive of Letters and Typescripts Sent to Richard E. Geis of Science Fiction Review
Notes: An archive of 19 typed notes and letters, signed (TNS and TLS) and 6 typescripts by Piers Anthony, a prolific science fiction author staring in the 1960s. He is best known for his series of Xanth novels. This group of letters also includes 10 retained carbons of letters from Richard Geis to Anthony.
Geis was a prolific writer of soft-core pornographic novels, which for many years was his main source of income. As a hobby, he published several fanzines, the best-known of which was Science Fiction Review (SFR). According to the Fancyclopedia 3, Geis's various fanzines were among the most influential in science fiction in the 1960s and 1970s. Geis was nominated for 30 Hugos in the fanzine category and won thirteen.
Most of Anthony's letters are densely typed, with narrow margins. The paper is often low quality and tanned. All items are ribbon copies, unless noted. Many of the letters have lines in the margin made by Geis, perhaps for editorial purposes. Many of the letters were written as Letters of Comment (LoC), intended for publication.
The archive consists of:
1) July 8, 1969. 5 pp. TLC, written as an LoC, a wide-ranging commentary on science fiction novels and publishing. In it, Anthony describes himself as "one of the youngest and turkiest of the young turks."
2) December 20, 1969. 4 pp. TLS LoC.
3) February 10, 1970. 2 pp. TLS Chatty letter mentioning a dispute with Ballantine Books.
4) April 12, 1970. 2 pp TLS on one sheet. About sending Anthony's archive to Syracuse University.
5) May 31, 1970. 2 pp. TLS on one sheet. Chatty letter on books and science fiction gossip.
6) July 2, 1970. 3 pp. TLS LoC complaining about a bad review of Anthony's novel Macroscope in SFR.
7) October 18, 1970. 1 p. TLS transmitting Anthony's periodic column for SFR, "Off the Depend" (a pun on "off the deep end). With the 5-page typescript of the column stapled to the letter. The column focuses on "hack" writing using L. Ron Hubbard's Fear as the main example.
8) December 19, 1970. 1 p. TLS about collaborative novels.
9) February 8, 1971. 2 pp. TLS on one sheet. Chatty letter about writing science fiction for a career and its connection to the pornographic book market.
10) February 18, 1971. 3 pp. TLS about a proposed novel collaboration between Geis and Anthony. With a 3 pp. carbon copy of a letter from Geis in response. Geis's letter is typed on the back of the 1971 Hugo Award nomination form.
11) February 27, 1971. 3-1/2 pp TLS LoC on three sheets. With a half-page holograph postscript. Geis had lined out two paragraphs, probably indicating editing for publication.
12) April 23, 1971. 1-1/2 pp. TLS on one leaf. About collaborative novels and offering consolation on the end of Science Fiction Review.
13) May 3, 1971. 2pp. TLS on one leaf, about Geis and Anthony's proposed collaborative novel, Sword of the Golem.
14) November 13, 1971. TNS with a carbon of Geis's response stapled to it.
15) December 14, 1971. TNS.
16) April 22, 1972. 2 pp TLS on one sheet. Much about Anthony's unpublished pornographic novel 3.97 Erect.
17) April 30, 1972. Acknowledging Geis's withdrawal from the collaborative novel project. With rather unsympathetic comments about Geis's personal life.
18) May 30, 1972. 2 pp. TLS LoC for the second issue of Geis's new eponymous fanzine.
19) February 5, 1973. 5 pp. TLS, divided into several sections, covering watches, bicycles, typewriters, diabetes, kidneys, collaboration, and non-fiction.
20) Ca. 1969? Half-page typescript review of The Ring of Ritornel by Charles L. Harness.
21) Ca. 1970. Two-page typescript review of The Year of the Quiet Sun by Wilson Tucker, with a three-page typed list of copyediting corrections. All five pages on standard typing paper.
22) Ca. 1970. Four-page typescript of an Off the Depend column, a rambling essay on science fiction books and writers, with much on Jack Vance.
23) Ca. 1970. Review of A Case of Conscience by James Blish in the form of an Off the Depend column. Five page carbon typescript; marked by Geis for issue #31, about 1970.
24) Ca. 1970. 8 pp. carbon typescript of an Off the Depend column about Anthony's difficulty in finding a publisher for his novel Hasam, based on the Arabian Nights.
25) 9 carbon copies of Geis's letters to Anthony, with a stray letter from a reader about Mario Puzo's The Godfather and what science fiction writers can learn from it.
Edition + Condition: Letters very good to near fine; most folded for mailing. Paper of some letters beginning to chip at the edges.
Publication: 1969-1973.
Item No: #464
Price: $1,000