Chris Claremont papers, 1973-2018
Chris Claremont papers, 1973-2018
Summary Information
Abstract
At a Glance
- Call No.:
- MS#1593
- Bib ID:
- 9052094 View CLIO record
- Creator(s):
- Claremont, Chris, 1950-
- Repository:
- Rare Book and Manuscript Library
- Physical Description:
- 40 linear feet (31 record cartons and 2 document boxes)
- Language(s):
- English .
- Access:
- You will need to make an appointment in advance to use this collection material in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room. You can schedule an appointment once you've submitted your request through your Special Collections Research Account.
-
This collection is located off-site. Researchers will need to request this material at least three business days in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room.
This collection has no restrictions.
Description
Summary
The Claremont collection consists of Claremont's professional papers, including his comic book work and drafts and manuscripts of novels, short stories and screenplays. Claremont's comic-related files include project proposals, scripts, and story ideas; his work with the X-Men franchise and his independent, creator-owned series Sovereign Seven are particularly well represented in the collection. The papers also include Claremont's business records, many of which relate to publicizing and promoting his work, and mail from his readers and fans.
Arrangement
This collection is arranged in 4 series.
Using the Collection
Restrictions on Access
You will need to make an appointment in advance to use this collection material in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room. You can schedule an appointment once you've submitted your request through your Special Collections Research Account.
This collection is located off-site. Researchers will need to request this material at least three business days in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room.
This collection has no restrictions.
Terms Governing Use and Reproduction
Reproductions may be made for research purposes. The RBML maintains ownership of the physical material only. Copyright remains with the creator and his/her heirs. The responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.
Preferred Citation
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Chris Claremont Papers; Box and Folder; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.
Accruals
Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. Contact rbml@columbia.edu for more information.
Ownership and Custodial History
Gift of Chris Claremont and Beth Fleisher.
Acquisition
Chris Claremont and Beth Fleisher Gift, 10/14/2011 2011-2012-M038
About the Finding Aid / Processing Information
Columbia University Libraries, Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Processing Information
Papers processed 11/2013 ceh
Findind aid written 12/09/2013 ceh
Addition of boxes 29-33 processed December 2018 by Rachel Klepper.
Revision Description
2013-12-10 xml document instance created by Carrie Hintz.
2013-12-10 Archives Websites Series added by Jane Gorjevsky.
2019-05-20 EAD was imported spring 2019 as part of the ArchivesSpace Phase II migration.
Biographical Note
Chris Claremont is the internationally recognized comic book writer and novelist best known for his work on Marvel's X-Men comic books and, in particular, his 17 year stint writing the book The Uncanny X-Men.
Claremont was born in London in 1950. His family moved to the U.S. in 1952 and settled in Long Island when Claremont was eight. He attended Bard College where he studied political theory and theatre, though he was regularly writing short stories and drafting novels during his college career as well. Claremont had been an avid comic book reader throughout his youth and, while an undergraduate at Bard, he took a position as a gofer at Marvel Comics.
Upon graduating from Bard in 1972 Claremont pursued a career as an actor, though he continued to write. In 1973 he took a part-time editorial job at Marvel. In 1975 Claremont took a full time position with Marvel as a staff writer. He was hired to reinvigorate the comic The Uncanny X-Men, which, when he took over the book was one of Marvel's least popular titles. Claremont transformed the book into a bestseller for Marvel, and over the course of the next sixteen years Claremont wrote the The Uncanny X-Men and created the spin-off titles= New Mutants, Excalibur, Wolverine, and X-Men . He created, co-created, or significantly developed some of the most complex and fully developed characters in the Marvel canon. In particular, Claremont insisted upon writing strong and nuanced female characters-- a rarity for comic books at the time.
While Claremont is best known for his work on various X-Men titles, his comic career is prolific and includes his work as a writer and editor for Marvel, a free-lance career that includes stints writing for established books such as DC Comics's Justice League of America and creating original work such as the creator-owned book Sovereign Seven and fantasies such as Black Dragon and Marada, the She Wolf.
In addition to his work in the comics industry, Claremont is a prolific novelist whose work includes First Flight, the Chronicles of the Shadow War trilogy based on the George Lucas film Willow, and Dragon Moon, co-authored with his wife, editor and writer Beth Fleisher.
Subject Headings
The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches for other collections at Columbia University, through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, and through ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.
All links open new windows.
| Name |
|---|
| Claremont, Chris, 1950- |
| Subject |
| Comic books, strips, etc |
| Fantastic Four (Fictitious characters) |
| Graphic novels |
| Superhero comic books, strips, etc |
| X-Men (Fictitious characters) |
Series I: Project Files, 1973-2015
Project Files contains scripts and other files related to Claremont's various writing projects, including comic books that Claremont scripted and files related to his non-comic book related projects such as his early short stories, some screenplays, and drafts of novels.
A typical comic project file may include Claremont's original, hand-written notes; correspondence with his editorial team or artist; copies of the book art at different stages of the production process; and typed scripts for the book. In addition to the scripts for the various books that Claremont worked on, there are proposals for books and series, some of which were eventually put into production, and some of which were not. These files are arranged alphabetically by project.
Box 1
(including The Avengers, Ms . Marvel, Fantastic Four and more)
Box 1
Box 1
Box 1
Box 1
Box 1
Box 1
Box 1
Box 1
Box 1
Box 1
Box 1
Box 1
Box 1
Box 1
Box 1
Box 32 Folder 7
Box 29 Folder 28
Box 30 Folder 18
Box 1
Box 1
Box 1
Box 1
Box 32 Folder 21
Box 1
Box 1
Box 1
(4 folders)
Box 2
(2 folders)
Box 2
(2 folders)
Box 2
(2 folders)
Box 2
Box 2
Box 2
Box 2
Box 2
Box 2
Box 2
Box 2
(2 folders)
Box 2
(2 folders)
Box 2
Box 2
Box 2
Box 2
Box 2
Box 2
Box 2
Box 2
Box 30 Folder 16
Box 3
Box 3
Box 3
Box 3
Box 3
Box 3
Box 3
Box 3
Box 3
Box 3
Box 3
Box 3
Box 3
Box 3
Box 3
Box 3
Box 3
Box 3
Box 29 Folder 15
Box 3
Box 3
Box 3
Box 3
Box 3
Box 3
Box 3
Box 3
(2 folders)
Box 32 Folder 11-12
Includes comic drafts, plot summaries, notes and correspondence related to X-Treme X-Men, Sovereign, and unlabeled projects
Box 4
Box 4
Box 4
Box 4
Box 4
Box 4
Box 4
Box 4
Box 4
Box 4
Box 4
Box 4
Box 4
Box 4
Box 4
Box 4
Box 4
Box 4
Box 4
Box 4
Box 4
Box 4
Box 4
Box 4
Box 4
Box 4
Box 4
Box 4
Box 5
Box 5
Box 5
Box 5
Box 5
Box 5
Box 5
Box 5
Box 5
Box 5
Box 5
Box 5
Box 5
Box 5
Box 30 Folder 1
Box 30 Folder 2
Box 30 Folder 11
Box 30 Folder 12
Box 30 Folder 13
Box 30 Folder 3
Box 30 Folder 4
Box 30 Folder 5
Box 30 Folder 6
Box 30 Folder 7
Box 30 Folder 8
Box 30 Folder 9
Box 30 Folder 10
Box 5
Box 5
Box 5
Box 5
Box 5
Box 5
Box 5
Box 5
Box 5
Box 5
Box 5
Box 5
Box 5
Box 5
Box 5
Box 5
Box 5
Box 5
Box 5
Box 5
Box 6
Box 6
Box 6
(2 folders)
Box 6
Box 6
Box 6
Box 6
Box 6
Box 6
Box 6
Box 6
Box 6
Box 6
Box 6
Box 6
Box 6
Box 7
Box 7
Box 7
Box 7
Box 7
Box 7
Box 7
Box 7
Box 7
Box 7
Box 7
Box 7
Box 7
Box 7
Box 7
Box 7
Box 7
Box 7
Box 7
Box 7
Box 7
Box 7
Box 8
Box 8
Box 8
Box 8
Box 8
Box 8
Box 8
Box 8
Box 8
Box 8
Box 8
Box 8
Box 8
Box 8
Box 8
Box 8
Box 8
Box 8
Box 8
Box 8
Box 8
Box 8
Box 8
Box 31 Folder 23-27
Box 8
Box 8
Box 8
Box 8
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
Box 29 Folder 7
Box 9
Box 9
Box 29 Folder 17-18
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
Box 30 Folder 24
Box 29 Folder 16
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
Box 9
Box 10
Box 10
Box 10
Box 10
Box 10
Box 10
Box 10
Box 30 Folder 23
Box 10
Box 10
Box 10
Box 10
Box 10
Box 10
Box 10
Box 10
Box 10
Box 10
Box 10
Box 10
Box 10
Box 10
Box 10
Box 10
Box 10
Box 10
Box 10
Box 10
Box 10
Box 10
Box 10
Box 10
Box 10
Box 10
Box 10
Box 11
Box 11
Box 11
Box 11
Box 11
Box 11
Box 11
Box 11
Box 11
Box 11
Box 11
Box 11
Box 11
Box 11
Box 11
Box 11
Box 11
Box 11
Box 11
Box 11
Box 11
Box 11
Box 11
Box 11
Box 11
Box 11
(4 folders)
Box 12
Box 12
Box 12
Box 12
Box 12
Box 12
Box 12
Box 12
Box 12
Box 12
Box 12
Box 12
Box 12
Box 12
Box 12
Box 12
Box 12
Box 29 Folder 25-27
Includes drafts and drawings from X-Men X3, X-Men: The End, Excalibur, and Uncanny X-Men)
Box 31 Folder 19
Includes materials related to X-Men Unlimited, X-Men X-Treme, Mechamage, and unlabeled projects
Box 29 Folder 10
Short Stories, Novels, and Screenplays includes project proposals, outlines, manuscript drafts, and editorial correspondence related to Claremont's novels, short stories, and other prose projects. There are often multiple drafts for each manuscript, showing Claremont's creative process and documenting the ways that a project changed over the courseof various rewritings and revisions. This subseries also includes files related to Claremont's work on various non-novel and non-comic book projects. Many of these are tied to his work in the comics industry, such as novelizations for the X-Men movies X2 and X-Men: The Last Stand and the scripting of X-Men video games. This subseries is arranged in roughly chronological order, keeping trilogies and other serial projects grouped together.
Box 13
Box 13
Box 13
Box 13
Box 13
Box 13
Box 13
Box 13
Box 13
Box 13
Box 13
Box 13
Box 13
Box 13
Box 28
Box 13
Box 13
Box 30 Folder 15
Box 32 Folder 2
Box 30 Folder 17
Box 13
Box 13
(2 folders)
Box 13
Box 14
(2 folders)
Box 14
(2 folders)
Box 28
(3 folders)
Box 14
(3 folders)
Box 14
Box 14
(2 folders)
Box 32 Folder 20
Box 14
(2 folders)
Box 14
Box 14
(2 folders)
Box 14
Box 15
Box 15
Box 15
(2 folders)
Box 15
Box 15
Box 15
Box 15
(3 folders)
Box 15
(3 folders)
Box 15
(2 folders)
Box 15
(3 folders)
Box 16
(3 folders)
Box 16
Box 16
Box 16
(3 folders)
Box 16
(3 folders)
Box 16
(3 folders)
Box 16
(4 folders)
Box 17
(3 folders)
Box 17
Box 17
(3 folders)
Box 17
Box 17
Box 17
Box 17
Box 17
Box 17
Box 17
(2 folders)
Box 17
Box 17
(2 folders)
Box 18
Box 18
Box 18
Box 18
Box 18
Box 18
(3 folders)
Box 29 Folder 14
Box 18
Box 18
Box 18
Box 18
Box 18
Box 18
(4 folders)
Box 29 Folder 19-20
Box 29 Folder 24
Box 30 Folder 21
Box 19
(4 folders)
Box 30 Folder 14
Box 29 Folder 23
Box 31 Folder 15
Box 30 Folder 20
Box 31 Folder 18
Box 31 Folder 16-17
Box 19
Box 19
Box 19
Box 19
Box 19
Box 19
Box 19
(3 folders)
Box 19
Box 32 Folder 9
Box 30 Folder 19
Box 30 Folder 22
Box 30 Folder 26
Box 30 Folder 25
Box 19
(2 folders)
Box 19
Box 19
Series II: Business Records, 1968-2012
The Business Records includes records related to the business side of Claremont's creative career. This series is particularly valuable in the ways that it documents Claremont's various relationships with the comics industry as a staff writer, a freelancer, and an editor.
Acting and Early Career includes material related to Claremont's training and early career as an actor and theatre technician. This subseries also includes a small amount of personal correspondence.
Box 20
Box 20
Box 20
Box 20
Box 32 Folder 22
Box 32 Folder 19
Professional Correspondence and Activities is comprised of business and professional records, including professional and editorial correspondence, contracts, and other business records. Also included in this series are files related to George R.R. Martin's Wild Cards anthology series, which Claremont contributed to. The subseries records Claremont's creative process and relationships with various editors, publishers, and agents throughout his career.
Box 32 Folder 17
Box 20
Box 20
Box 20
Box 20
Box 31 Folder 4
Box 29 Folder 2
Box 31 Folder 33
Box 31 Folder 29
Box 29 Folder 3
Box 29 Folder 31
Box 20
Box 29 Folder 12
Box 20
Box 20
Box 31 Folder 13
Box 29 Folder 5
Box 31 Folder 6
Box 31 Folder 28
Box 20
Box 20
Box 20
Box 31 Folder 5
Box 20
Box 20
Box 20
Box 20
Box 20
Box 20
Box 20
Box 20
Box 20
Box 31 Folder 14
Box 29 Folder 11
Box 20
Box 31 Folder 22
Contains items related to professional and personal activities including a thank you for judging a Scholastic writing competition for youth
Box 29 Folder 9
Box 20
Box 20
Box 20
Box 20
Box 20
Box 31 Folder 7
Box 29 Folder 13
Box 31 Folder 2
Box 29 Folder 29
Box 29 Folder 32-33
Box 20
Box 20
Box 20
Box 29 Folder 22
Box 31 Folder 34
Box 29 Folder 30
These appear to be created by other artists
Box 29 Folder 1
Box 20
Box 32 Folder 10
Contains list of his drafts and materials that were destroyed in a flood
Box 20
Box 20
Box 31 Folder 1
Box 20
Box 20
Box 20
Box 20
Box 20
Box 27
Box 27
Box 27
Box 27
Box 27
Box 27
Box 27
Box 27
Box 27
Box 27
Box 27
Box 21
Box 21
Box 21
Box 21
Box 21
Box 21
Box 21
Box 21
Box 21
Box 21
Box 21
Box 21
Box 21
Box 21
Box 21
Box 21
Box 21
Box 21
Box 21
Box 21
Box 31 Folder 21
Box 32 Folder 4-6
Box 21
Box 21
Box 21
Box 22
Box 22
Box 33 Folder 2
Box 22
Box 22
Box 22
Box 22
Box 22
Box 22
Box 33 Folder 1
Box 31 Folder 3
Box 31 Folder 31
Box 31 Folder 32
Box 22
Box 22
Box 22
Box 22
Box 22
Box 31 Folder 20
Box 22
Box 31 Folder 7
Box 31 Folder 30
Box 22
Box 22
Box 22
Box 22
Box 23
Box 23
Box 23
Box 23
Box 23
Box 23
Box 23
Box 23
Box 23
Box 23
Box 23
Box 23
Box 23
Box 23
Box 23
Box 32 Folder 14
Box 32 Folder 1
Box 32 Folder 16
Box 32 Folder 13
Box 32 Folder 14
Box 31 Folder 9
Box 29 Folder 6
Box 29 Folder 8
Box 31 Folder 9
Box 31 Folder 12
Box 31 Folder 11
Box 32 Folder 3
Box 23
Fan Mail includes correspondence directly to Chris as well as printouts of internet fan sites and message boards dedicated to Claremont's work (particularly his comic work such as the X-Men and Sovereign 7). This reflects the networks of fandom that developed around Claremont's work and the ways that comic fans interact with the industry more generally.
Box 23
Box 24
Box 24
Box 24
Box 24
Box 24
Box 24
Box 24
Box 24
Box 24
Box 24
Box 24
Box 24
Box 24
Box 24
Box 24
Box 24
Box 24
Box 24
Box 24
Box 24
Box 24
Box 29 Folder 4
Box 24
Box 32 Folder 8
Series III: Notebooks, 1977-2014
The Notebooks series is comprised of Claremont's notebooks. These notebooks include story ideas, scripting ideas, character notes, and notes from business and editorial meetings as well as more personal and prosaic notes and lists. The notebooks are arranged roughly chronologically and researchers interested in a particular project should look both in the project files and the notebooks series.
Box 25
Box 26
Box 32 Folder 18
Box 29 Folder 21
Box 28
Series IV: Archived Web Site, 2013-present
Archived web site captures of the official web site of Chris Claremont, at http://www.chrisclaremont.com/. Captured semi-annually, 2013-present.