Roberta Gellis Papers
Collection Overview
Abstract
The Roberta Gellis Papers consist of manuscripts, outlines, proofs, and handwritten first drafts of many published and unpublished works by Gellis; it also consists of computers disks containing manuscripts and substantial documentation of her research.
Dates
- Creation: 1951, 1964-2006, undated
Extent
31.54 Cubic Feet (58 archives boxes)
Creator
- Gellis, Roberta (Person)
Scope and Contents
The Roberta Gellis Papers are comprised of literary manuscripts, research files, business files, multimedia materials and computer disks.
The bulk of the collection is comprised of various forms of literary manuscripts, from handwritten and typed drafts to copyedited manuscripts, to galley proofs and art samples. These manuscripts exist in printed and digital forms, and present a unique opportunity to trace the author's process across the span of her career.
Roberta Gellis was known for the detailed research she put into each novel, and the collection reflects that through her research files, including two boxes of hundreds of 5" x 8" cards covering people, places and events. Correspondence with editors and other authors can also be found within the collection.
The collection also includes versions of short stories written by Roberta Gellis as well as unpublished works, and a copy of the thesis she wrote in 1951 for her MS in Chemistry from Brooklyn Polytechnic University, "Concentration and Purification of Toxoids".
The Roberta Gellis Collection provides researchers with access to a wealth of materials produced by a beloved author. It represents the work of an author who worked across decades of great social and technological changes while writing almost exclusively about periods long past or long in the future.
The 2016 addition to the collection is not yet fully processed but is available for research.
Biographical / Historical
Roberta Gellis was a prolific author who published nearly 50 novels after her first was published in 1964. She wrote historical romances with medieval settings, becoming best known for her 1979 series The Roselynde Chronicles.She also wrote in multiple other genres including romantic suspense (both historical and contemporary), romantic fantasy, and science fiction. Though primarily writing under her own name, she also used the pseudonyms of Max Daniels, Priscilla Hamilton and Leah Jacobs. She collaborated on a number of historical fantasies with author Mercedes Lackey. In 2005, she contributed a chapter to the non-fiction book Mapping the World of Harry Potter entitled "The Dursleys as Social Commentary".
Gellis received many awards for her writing including the Silver and Gold Medal Porgy for historical novels from West Coast Review of Books, the Golden Certificate and Golden Pen from Affaire de Coeur, The Romantic Times Award for Best Novel in the Medieval Period and Lifetime Achievement Award for Historical Fantasy and Romance Writers of America's Lifetime Achievement Award.
She did not come to fiction writing right away- she obtained her MS in Chemistry from Brooklyn Polytechnic University in 1951. She worked both as a freelance scientific copy editor and as a research chemist for Foster D. Snell for many years, where she and her inventing partner developed aerosolized shaving foam and pink hair dye, among other creations, before she entered a second career as a best-selling author. It was during this second career that she also otained a masters degree in medieval literature.
Gellis was a passionate adopter of technology for both writing and reading novels. The collection includes more than 200 computer disks of multiple formats containing literary manuscripts, as well as final works which were sold on 3 1/2" disks and CD-ROM.
Roberta Gellis passed away on May 6, 2016. Her husband of 68 years, Charles, passed away in 2014. Roberta is survived by her son Dr. Mark Gellis, daughter-in-law Sandra Brown Gellis, and her granddaughter Elizabeth Gellis, all of Flushing, MI.
Conditions Governing Access
No known access restrictions.
Conditions Governing Use
Copyright and other restrictions may apply to the materials in this collection. Researchers using this collection assume full responsibility for conforming to the laws of libel, privacy, and copyright, and are responsible for securing permissions necessary for publication or reproduction.
Language of Materials
English
Separated Materials
The 2016 donation included a number of published novels that were separated from the manuscript collection and added to the general book collection of the Browne Popular Culture Library. These included 17 foreign-language editions of Roberta Gellis' books, in Portugese, Russian, German, Japanese, and French. Other books that were separated were:
- Bone of Contention (hardcover)
- Bone of Contention (advance reader copy)
- Lucrezia Borgia and the Mother of Poisons (advance reader copy)
- A Mortal Bane (advance reader copy)
- Roselynde (advance reader copy)
- A Personal Devil (advance reader copy)
- Irish Magic II (advance reader copy)
- Fortune's Bride (advance reader copy)
- A Woman's Estate (advance reader copy)
The 2016 addition also included audio book versions of Mortal Bane and Bone of Contention, which were added to the Browne Popular Culture Library's audiobook collection.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The materials in this collection were transferred to the Browne Popular Culture Library by Roberta Gellis in a series of donations beginning in September 1999. An addition to the collection was made by her estate in 2016 and again in 2017.
Processing Information
A preliminary finding aid was prepared by Mary Koslovsky in January 2006. It was updated by Manuscripts and Outreach Archivist Steve Ammidown in September 2016. The finding aid was then revised and input into ArchivesSpace by Tyne Lowe, Manuscripts Archivist, in February 2025.
Genre / Form
- Title
- Guide to the Roberta Gellis Papers
- Author
- Mary Koslovsky, Steve Ammidown, Tyne Lowe
- Date
- January 2006, September 2016, February 2025
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin