R.A. Salvatore Collection 

Sub-Record Group 1 consists of Mr. Salvatore's unpublished and published novels and short stories. This group is divided into three series: the first series contains unpublished works; the second series contains short stories; and the third series contains novels. Mr. Salvatore's first published novel was The Crystal Shard in 1988. However, it should be noted that he had already written what became Echoes of the Fourth Magic, published in 1990. Each of Mr. Salvatore's published novels has been given a distinct sub-series and are arranged in chronological order as written. Each sub-series contains a variety of information pertaining to each novel. In most cases drafts, galleys, uncorrected proofs and/or some combination of same, as well as editorial correspondence are available for each item. When available a published version of the novel or short story is included. In some instances a foreign language edition is included as well.

Sub-Record Group 2 contains miscellaneous writings including gaming texts (an important part of the commercial fantasy worlds), and scripts adapted from Mr. Salvatore's work or adapted by him as in the case of Tarzan: the Epic Adventures. Also to be found here are several essays, some juvenilia preserved by one of Mr. Salvatore's elementary school teachers and College essays.

Sub-Record Group 3 relates to Mr. Salvatore's activities as a best-selling author. Material includes items concerning book signings and tours as well as convention appearances (again an important feature of the fantasy world). Correspondence pertaining to these activities is included when available. Mr. Salvatore has been generous in his time for school appearances and functions, and items about these appearances and the responses of students and teachers to them can be found here. Finally, book talks and other community appearances are recorded as part of this Sub-Record Group.

Sub-Record Group 4 contains Mr. Salvatore's extensive correspondence. It is divided into business, fan, and personal correspondence with Mr. Salvatore's replies attached to each letter. Each sub-record group is arranged by date. The business correspondence series contains a specific sub-series for Mr. Salvatore's first publisher TSR. The fan correspondence is voluminous and begins in 1988. Beginning in 1991, Mr. Salvatore's responses to his fans start to appear and from July of that year forward are almost always present. There is a wealth of information in these author responses that reflect the seriousness with which Mr. Salvatore takes the letters from his readers. While the personal correspondence often reflects Mr. Salvatore's position as an author its content tends to be more directly personal in nature. Included in this series is a valuable exchange of letters with fellow fantasy writer Elaine Cunningham.

With the arrival of the Internet and online "chats", separate folders within the Fan Correspondence were created for these online "chats". This correspondence contains requests for such chats and reactions to them.

In 1999 Mr. Salvatore added to the lore of the Star Wars saga by writing his first Star Wars based novel VECTOR PRIME. Fan reaction was immediate and began even before the novel was published. Hence, a separate folder for such 'specialized' fan correspondence was created in 1999 and continues into 2000.