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Fritz Leiber Papers

 Collection
Identifier: 1984-003

The Fritz Leiber Papers contains correspondence, notes, manuscripts, typescripts, publications and tearsheets, diaries and biographical materials, financial, legal and medical records, photographs, illustrations, convention materials, and miscellaneous materials. Additional oversize art/illustration materials and ephemera such as weaponry, sculpture, and awards are housed separately. The materials date from the 1930s to the 1980s. They are housed in 60 manuscripts boxes, 5 storage boxes, and 3 oversized boxes.

The collection was compiled from 41 boxes of previously unprocessed Fritz Leiber materials, 23 boxes of Fritz Leiber papers which were processed in 1991-1992, and several boxes of letters which were donated by Franklin C. MacKnight from 1984-1991. Original provenance was lost through preliminary processing, so the order imposed on the Fritz Leiber Papers is artificial and reflects the major categories discovered during final processing. For more information, please refer to the series descriptions.

Dates

  • 1930-1996

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Special Collections owns the physical items in our collections, but copyright normally belongs to the creator of the materials or their heirs. The researcher has full responsibility for determining copyright status, obtaining permission to publish from copyright holders, and abiding by current copyright laws when publishing or displaying copies of Special Collections material in print or electronic form. For more information, consult the appropriate librarian. Reproduction decisions will be made by Special Collections staff on a case-by-case basis.

Extent

30.00 linear feet

Biographical Information

Fritz Reuter Leiber, Jr. was born in Chicago on December 24, 1910 to Shakespearean actors Fritz Leiber, Sr. and Virginia Bronson Leiber. He graduated from the University of Chicago in 1932 with a degree in psychology and physiology, and, in 1936, married Jonquil Stephens, a British poet with similar interests in the supernatural. They had one son, Justin Leiber, in 1938. Several years after Jonquil's death in 1969, he married Margo Skinner. His employment throughout the years included editorial positions and teaching drama, but Fritz Leiber primarily supported himself with his writing.

Producing stories in the genres of fantasy, science, horror, and supernatural fiction from the mid 1930s until his death in 1992, Fritz Leiber won several prominent fantasy and science fiction awards such as the Hugo, the Nebula, and the World Fantasy Association Awards. Although he wrote numerous stories in variety of styles, Leiber is perhaps best known for the heroic Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser characters he created with his college friend, Harry Otto Fischer (1910-1986), and which he continued to embellish through a series of short stories and novels throughout his long writing career and correspondence with Fischer.

Acquisition Information

The collection was donated to the University of Houston by Fritz Leiber and Justin Leiber, his son, between 1984 and 1997. Additional correspondence between Fritz Leiber and Franklin C. MacKnight was donated by Dr. MacKnight.

Digital Collections

Fritz Leiber Science Fiction & Fantasy Convention Flyers & Programs digital collection

https://digitalcollections.lib.uh.edu/collections/2801ph27q

Processing Information

Katherine Fox, 1996-1997

Title
Guide to the Fritz Leiber Papers
Author
Katherine Fox
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the University of Houston Libraries Special Collections Repository

Contact:
University of Houston Libraries Special Collections
MD Anderson Library
4333 University Drive
Houston TX 77204-2000 USA
713-743-9750