Arthur C. Clarke Correspondence
Collection
Identifier: MS484
Arthur C. Clarke was a significant author in the science fiction genre whose works span decades and cover a variety of formats in both fiction and non-fiction. This collection contains several of his letters written from 1987 to 1999.
These materials have unrestricted access.
Permission to publish materials from this collection must be obtained from the Head of Archives and Special Collections.
0.2 Linear Feet (1 letter-sized document case. )
This collection contains correspondence written by Arthur C. Clarke, mainly to his friend William Lauritzen. Several letters discuss the film rights to Clarke's story Rendezvous with Rama. The majority of the correspondence is made up of form letters with autograph signatures. It also includes a postcard, a news release of Clarke's use of a "videophone" to deliver a speech, and a clipping of an article from Personal Computer World.
Arthur C. Clarke (1917-2008) was a prominent and prolific science fiction author whose works spanned decades, earned him Knighthood in 1998, and left him with the legacy of being remembered as one of the "Big Three" of science fiction along with Isaac Asimov and Robert Heinlein. Born on December 16, 1917 in Somerset, England, Clarke wrote many essays, novels, poems, and short stories as well as the screenplay for 2001: A Space Odyssey, co-written with director Stanley Kubrick. A few of Clarke's notable works include Childhood's End, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Rendezvous with Rama. He earned many significant awards including the Kalinga Prize, the International Fantasy Award, the John W. Campbell Memeorial Award, the BSFA Award, the SFWA Grand Master Ward, as well as several Hugo and Nebula awards.
Clarke moved to Sri Lanka in 1956, where he remained until his death in 2008. He was diagnosed with post-polio syndrome in 1988 after contracting the disease in 1962, which necessitated wheelchair use for most of his life thereafter. Because this illness made it difficult for Clarke to write by hand, he often used form letters or dictated his correspondence to one of seven secretaries he employed later in his life to assist with responding to the vast number of letters he received.
These materials are arranged chronologically.
Purchased from Swann Auction Galleries in October 2021.
Processed by Chloe Morris in September 2023.
Part of the Archives and Special Collections, Library, Georgia Institute of Technology Repository