PCL MS 196 Richard Erlich Collection

MLA Citation

“PCL MS 196 Richard Erlich Collection.” Finding Aids. BGSU University Libraries, 14 June 2018, lib.bgsu.edu/finding_aids/items/show/2615. Accessed 9 Oct. 2024.

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TitlePCL MS 196 Richard Erlich Collection
IntroductionThe Richard Erlich Collection consists of approximately 4 linear feet of manuscript materials, including correspondence, business files, and academic manuscripts. The materials primarily relate to Erlich's book Coyote's Song: The Teaching Stories of Ursula K. Le Guin, but also contain materials relating to his unpublished book The Starmont Reader's Guide to Ursula K. LeGuin as well as Clockworks: A Multimedia Bibliography [i.e., List] of Works Useful for the Study of the Human/Machine Interface in SF, written with Thomas P. Dunn, his frequent collaborator.

The collection was donated in 2006 by Dr. Erlich to the Browne Popular Culture Library. At the request of Dr. Erlich, files containing correspondence between himself and Ursula K. Le Guin are currently restricted, however there are no other restrictions placed on the materials for research purposes. Researchers are responsible for securing copyright permission from the author when reproducing any unpublished or published works included in the collection.

The collection was processed and the finding aid prepared by Manuscripts & Outreach Archivist Steve Ammidown in October, 2016.
Biographical SketchDr. Erlich received his Ph.D in English from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1971, and taught English at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, from 1971-2006. He has written extensively on science fiction and fantasy, and is best known as a scholar of Ursula K. Le Guin. His book Coyote's Song: The Teaching Stories of Ursula K. Le Guin (1997) features a close reading of nearly every Ursula K. Le Guin story to that point, at a length of more than 650 pages. 

In collaboration with Thomas Dunn, Dr. Erlich edited the Clockworks series of essays on robots and machines in science fiction, which continues on as a wiki titled Clockworks 2. Their work on this project is archived at the Browne Popular Culture Library as The Thomas Dunn and Richardt Erlich Collection (MS-039).
Scope and ContentThe Richard Erlich Collection contains approximately 4 linear feet of manuscript material. The bulk of the collection consists of drafts and manuscripts that eventually composed the book Coyote's Song: The Teaching Stories of Ursula K. Le Guin (1997). There is also a collection of conference papers on the work of Ursula K. Le Guin written by Dr. Erlich as well as by others. A collection of research materials including photocopies of Le Guin's essays and short stories, as well as theoretical works written by others is included as well. Business files relating to Coyote's Song and several other works by Dr. Erlich are included, including correspondence with publishers and colleagues, as well as files relating to the process of academic research and writing.

Two files containing correspondence between Dr. Erlich and Ursula K. Le Guin have been restricted at the request of Dr. Erlich. Please contact the archivist for more information.

Dr. Erlich's analysis of the work of Ursula K. Le Guin is an essential addition to the scholarship on this renowned author. This collection sheds light on the process of Dr. Erlich and acaedmic writing in general, and the participation of Le Guin in the project will be of great interest to other scholars of her work.
Series DescriptionBusiness Files
1981-2001
Arranged chronologically
Contains publisher correspondence and roylaties information, as well as some materials relating to academic writing and research.

Conference papers
1977-1998
Arranged chronologically
Papers written about the work of Ursula K. Le Guin, by Dr. Erlich as well as other scholars.

Research
1974-1997 (approximate)
Arranged chronologically
Primarily photocopies of printed articles, some by or about Ursula K. Le Guin.

Correspondence
1977-2006
Arranged by participant, and then chronogically
Contains correspondence with scholars of Ursula K. Le Guin as well as with Le Guin herself.

Academic manuscripts
1991-1997
Arranged by type (chapters and then manuscripts) and then roughly chronologically
Contains chapter drafts, partial and complete draft manuscripts, some with comments written by Ursula K. Le Guin.

Inventory

Box 1
Folder Description Date
Business Files
1 Royalties and Other Money Stuff 1981 - 1985
2 Greenwood Press 1983
3 Browne Popular Culture Library- BGSU 1984 - 1989
4 Correspondence with Starmont House, Inc. 1988
5 Correspondence- Starmont Guide to Le Guin 1990
6 Materials related to Advanced Research Appointment 1993 - 1995
7 Correspondence with Borgo Press re: Contract 1995
8 Correspondence re: Clockworks 1993 - 1994
9 Reviews- Clockworks 1994
10 Coyote's Song- Correspondence re: Copyright 1996
11 Coyote's Song- Fragments & Correspondence 1996
12 Coyote's Song- Correspondence with Publishers 1999
13 OAST: Funding 1999
14 Gale Story Guides- Style Manual 2000
15 Coyote's Song- indexing notes & invoices 2001
16 Coyote's Song- ebook cover art 2001
17 Computer disks- 1 zip disk, 2 3 1/2" disks, 7 5 1/4" disks undated

 

Box 2
Folder Description Date
Conference Papers by Erlich and Others
1 Presentations on Le Guin by others- PCA Meetings 1977, 1979
2 Papers on Le Guin- miscellaneous 1977
3 Paper- Evolutionary Ethics in The Left Hand of Darkness 1978
4 Papers relating to Le Guin's poetry 1978
5 Erlich- Le Guin in Frontierland 1979
6 Le Guin in Frontierland- PCA presentation 1979
7 Materials relating to Le Guin in Frontierland paper 1978 - 1984
8 Papers by Erlich on Le Guin- miscellaneous 1979, 1983
9 Papers from PCA session- "Le Guin: Earthsea & Other Fantasy" 1980
10 Lathe of Heaven- papers by Erlich & others 1981, 1983
11 Draft and notes for Lathe of Heaven paper 1983
12 Papers by others on Le Guin's Hainish works undated
13 Erlich article in Extrapolation 1987
14 Paper and handout for PCA presentation on Le Guin's short fiction 1992
15 PCA Paper- "Le Guin and Her Audience" 1993
16 Le Guin research- emails 1994 - 1995
17 Handout for talk at Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts 1996
18 "Utopus Revised and Reconsidered"- paper at Society for Utopian Studies 1997
19 Article on Le Guin by Mike Cadden 1998
20 Earthsea series synopsis by Carol Stevens undated

 

Box 3
Folder Description Date
Research
1 Le Guin book: Left Hand of Darkness materials undated
2 Le Guin books- Literature for Review undated
3 Interviews with Le Guin 1988, 1997
4 Schrodinger's Cat by Ursula K. Le Guin- photocopy 1974
5 Is Gender Necessary? Redux by Ursula K. Le Guin- photocopy 1987
6 Forgiveness Day by Ursula K. Leguin- photocopy 1994
7 Short works by Ursula K. Le Guin- photocopies undated
8 Writings by Ursula K. Le Guin- photocopies 1975, 1982, 1985
Correspondence
9 Correspondence- miscellaneous 1994 - 2002
11 Correspondence with Jim Bittner 1977 - 1984
12 Correspondence with Ursula K. Le Guin- RESTRICTED 1979 - 2006
13 Correspondence with Ursula K. Le Guin re: Coyote's Song- RESTRICTED 1996 - 1999

 

Box 4
Folder Description Date
Coyote's Song- Chapter drafts
1 About This Book 1997
2 About This Book, Draft 2 1997
3 Conclusion/Introduction, Draft 2 1996
4 Conclusion/Introduction, Draft 3.5:S 1997
5 Conclusion/Introduction, Draft 4.5 1997
6 On Violence, Aggression, Utopia, Dystopia, Ethics- and Sex 1991
7 Aggression & Utopias 1995
7 Aggression & Utopias, Draft 2 1996
8 Aggression & Utopias, Draft 3 1996
9 Aggression & Utopias, Draft 3 1997
10 Picture Books, edited first draft undated
11 Picture Books, Draft 1.5 1996
12 Picture Books, Draft 2.5 1997
13 A Fisherman of the Inland Sea 1996
14 A Fisherman of the Inland Sea, Draft 1.2 1996
15 A Fisherman of the Inland Sea, Draft 3 1997

 

Box 5
Folder Description Date
Coyote's Song- Chapter drafts, cont'd
1 Background for FIS, Draft 1.2 1996
2 Background for FWF, FIS, Draft 2 1997
3 The Hainish Universe Revisited..., Draft 5 1997
4 Gender-Separated Societies, Draft 1996
5 Rer Stories, Draft 2.3 1996
7 Transition: Daoism and Magic 1997
8 Toward the Feminist Works, Draft 1 1995
9 Always Coming Home, Draft 5 1997
10 Tehanu, Draft 3 1997
11 Buffalo Gals, Draft 2 1997
12 New Heroes, Draft 4 1997
13 Solitude, Draft 2 1997
14 Poems, Draft 1.1 1996
15 Poems, Draft 2 1997
16 Works Consulted undated

 

Box 6
Folder Description Date
Coyote's Song- Manuscripts
1 1st Draft, 1 of 2 1995
2 1st Draft, 2 of 2 1995
3 Draft 1 Reformatted 1995
4 Partial Manuscript undated

 

Box 7
Folder Description Date
Coyote's Song- Manuscripts, cont'd.
1 1st Draft marked up (includes comments by Le Guin), 1 of 3 1995
2 1st Draft marked up (includes comments by Le Guin), 2 of 3 1995
3 1st Draft marked up (includes comments by Le Guin), 3 of 3 1995

 

Box 8
Folder Description Date
Coyote's Song- Manuscripts, cont'd.
1 Edited manuscript (includes comments by Le Guin), 1 of 3 undated
2 Edited manuscript (includes comments by Le Guin), 2 of 3 undated
3 Edited manuscript (includes comments by Le Guin), 3 of 3 undated

 

Box 9
Folder Description Date
Coyote's Song- Manuscripts, cont'd.
1 Copyedited manuscript, 1 of 3 undated
2 Copyedited manuscript, 2 of 3 undated
3 Copyedited manuscript, 3 of 3 undated

 

Box 10
Folder Description Date
Coyote's Song- Manuscripts, cont'd.
1 Final manuscript, 1 of 3 1997
2 Final manuscript, 2 of 3 1997
3 Final manuscript, 3 of 3 1997
Starmont Guide to Ursula K. LeGuin
4 Copyedited manuscript 1990