Series II. Writings, 1948-1995

Series

The Writing series is made up of the professional written works by Stine associated with sports model rocketry, non-fiction aeronautical writings, and science-fiction works under the pennames Lee Correy, George H. Shearer, and Gregory Hamilton Stone. When Stine used a penname for the work, it is noted alongside the folder title. The types of material that make up this series are galley proofs, typed manuscripts, photographs, illustrations, tear-sheets of magazine articles, notebooks, and correspondence. There are five subseries in this grouping: Subseries A. Book Manuscripts, 1950-1995; Subseries B. Short Works, 1951-1995; Subseries C. Notes, 1965-1971; Subseries D. Assorted Works, 1948-1971; Subseries E. Works by Other Authors, 1958-1994.

Subseries A. Book Manuscripts has been broken down into fiction and non-fiction writings, with files in each subseries arranged alphabetically by title. The fictional works include well-known titles like Rocket Man under the penname Lee Correy. Some folder titles may not be the published title for the novel and may also include other examples of working titles for the manuscript. Included in this subseries are typed manuscripts, correspondence, and photograph selections related to the work. Within the non-fiction grouping, there are many famous works by Stine, including the first manuscript of Handbook of Model Rocketry from 1961, and the sequential revisions and editions throughout the years until 1993. In addition to the Handbook of Model Rocketry there are manuscripts related to other books on model rocketry such as Model Rocketry Manual, which Stine began writing in 1970.

The Short Works subseries is also subdivided into fiction and non-fiction writings. The fiction subseries includes early examples of Stine’s science-fiction articles beginning in the 1950s. The non-fiction subseries includes articles on model rocketry for various hobby publications, most notably Model Rocketry Magazine and American Modeler Magazine where he was a content contributor beginning in the 1950s. The recurring columns “Countdown” and “Rocket Trails” were regularly featured in the American Modeler Magazine, and he had a recurring column in Model Rocketry Magazine titled “The Old Rocketeer.” These writings updated the sport rocketry community on current happenings, highlighted competitions, summarized new theories in model rocketry, and presented how-to designs. While the fiction short works are arranged alphabetically, the non-fiction works were filed in reverse chronological order following Stine’s original organization.

Subseries C. is a very small subseries made up of Stine’s three notebooks on model rocketry. One of them is titled the “Personal Idea Book from the department of Witchcraft and Sorcery.” The notes are accompanied by illustrations of the model rocket designs. They have been arranged in chronological order.

Subseries D. has various examples of works by Stine that run from book reviews, teacher’s guides, and very early play scripts like "The Battlements of Eternity" from 1948.

The last part of the series is a small subseries of manuscripts by other authors that relate to aeronautical research and model rockery, for example Gerald M. Gregorek’s "A Critical Examination of Model Rocket Drag for Use with Maximum Altitude Prediction Charts" and “Physical Reality” by Robert L. Carroll.

Dates

1948-1995

Language of Materials

Some materials are in Russian, French, and German. All other materials are in English.

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research and is accessible in the Dahlberg Research Center by appointment. Some of the audiovisual materials have not been reformatted and may not be used at this time. For more information contact us.

Extent

From the Collection: 85 Cubic Feet (126 letter size 4-inch document boxes (12 1/4" x 10 1/4" x 4), 10 letter size full-width document boxes (12 1/4" x 10 1/4" x 5), 5 legal size full-width document boxes (15 1/2" x 10 1/4" x 5), 1 legal size full-width document boxes (15 1/2" x 10 1/4" x 4) , 1 letter size half-width document box, 6 record cartons, 4 oversize boxes (16 1/2" x 20 1/2" x 3"), 3 oversize boxes (20 1/2" x 24 1/2" x 3), 6 oversize rolled storage boxes, 60 oversize folders (35 3/4" x 47 3/4"))

Additional Description

Arrangement

The Writings series (boxes 36-45, 104, 130, 141, 146-149, 157-158, and oversize folder 58) has been organized into groupings of Stine’s book manuscripts, short works, notes, assorted works, and works by other authors. Both the Book Manuscripts subseries and Short Works subseries were further broken down into fiction and non-fiction works. The folders within each of the Fiction and Non-Fiction subseries for the book manuscripts have been alphabetized by title. The files related to the Handbook of Model Rocketry are further organized by manuscript date and editions. The fictional writings in the Short Works subseries were alphabetized, while the non-fiction works were broken down into decades and then arranged in reverse chronological order. With the first donation we received predominantly non-fiction articles from the 1960s that Stine had arranged in specific order. To maintain original order of the documents we kept the reverse chronological sequence. The non-fiction short works that arrived with the addendum were then organized to match that of the first donation of articles.

The Notes subseries has been arranged chronologically, while the Assorted Works subseries and Works by Other Authors subseries has been organized alphabetically.