Stephen King Manuscripts

[wizardsrainbow]

By "true", (and I am going on collectors' word alone as I have seen pictures only) are original typed (or handwritten) manuscript (or partial manuscript) of King novels.

[Bev Vincent]

By "true", (and I am going on collectors' word alone as I have seen pictures only) are original typed (or handwritten) manuscript (or partial manuscript) of King novels.

So for typescripts that means nothing past The Talisman, pretty much. Everything beyond that point will be a computer printout, which is indistinguishable from a photocopy of a printout. For example, I have first and second draft manuscripts of DT5-7, but these are either printouts or photocopies.

[carlosdetweiller]

In addition to the essay on Barry Levin's site regarding manuscript collecting (to which I supplied a link earlier in this thread) there is this information that was supplied by Peter Schneider some years ago specific to Stephen King manuscripts.

"Upon completion of a novel, short story, essay, etc. King would print out two copies of the manuscript: one copy would go to the publisher; the second would go to his agent. This manuscript would be the first draft of the novel or short piece. When we use the term “original copy” it refers to one of these two submitted manuscripts."

These "original copy" manuscripts are therefore the most desirable but provenance and documentation are essential as there is really no way to differentiate later copies (or copies of copies) and, because of that, they will likely never sell for near the price as original typescripts.

Just some random thoughts I have been having, especially in light of the manuscript of "The Shine" that Jon has been sharing with us.

[carlosdetweiller]

I pulled out a couple of things that I have been thinking about since Jon's adventures with "The Shine" manuscript.

Here is an item that I got from the offices of Kirby and Kay McCauley so it fits with the "original copy" designation even though this is a photocopy and not a computer printout. It is an earlier state from the finished book. 1147 pages loose, not bound. There are at least two distinct fonts and several different paper types. Almost every page has hand corrections (photocopied, not original) The dedication is very different from what was published in the book and, I suspect, there are many textual differences throughout the book as well. I do not have the patience that Jon displayed with "The Shine" to go through this huge stack and find them all though.

I think it is hard to put a value on stuff like this. Yes, it is just a stack of photocopies. But there is provenance of the item coming directly from King's agent along with a statement that no further copies have been made of this particular manuscript. What is the value? I haven't a clue. I do think it is extremely collectible whereas most photocopied items are not.





I like the Lennon quote written at the top. I don't know if this made it in to the finished book or not.








Here is another similar item. A photocopied manuscript of The Talisman. Nearly 1000 pages loose in a box. Complete with old rusty staples! Apparently Tim Underwood (of Underwood/Miller did the typesetting for the Donald Grant edition). This is the copy he used and there is provenance. What it is worth? Haven't a clue. But I only paid $4 for it.

[Ari_Racing]

Very nice!!!
Now $4....that's a steal!

[carlosdetweiller]

On the other hand here is a manuscript of The Stand: The Complete and Uncut Edition. It is photocopied and placed (by someone) into two green binders.





From my notes at the time of acquisition:

"One of approximately 3 photocopies of the submitted manuscript made by Peter Schneider who received the manuscript from King. According to Schneider: "I kept one, Production got one (for estimated page count and costs) and the copy editor got one." 1657 manuscript pages with corrections. This copy is presumably from the copy editor and may be a second generation copy."

On this one I have no real provenance and I suspected at the time that this was a copy of a copy. Hence I don't place any real monetary value to this one. Provenance is everything, IMO.

[herbertwest]

Bob, did I miss something or you didnt mention the title of the book?

[carlosdetweiller]

Bob, did I miss something or you didnt mention the title of the book?

You are right. The manuscript from the McCauley office is IT.

[peripheral]

This is just amazing Bob.

[herbertwest]

Bob, did I miss something or you didnt mention the title of the book?

You are right. The manuscript from the McCauley office is IT.

Thanks! And neat items !