Colin Smythe Terry Pratchett Archive

This collection includes all available editions, reprints and translations of Pratchett’s novels, short stories, and journal articles.

The single most noteworthy item is a copy of the first edition of Pratchett’s first book, The Carpet People (1971), one of about half a dozen copies with the full-page illustrations hand-coloured by Pratchett (Pratchett B.563). Pratchett later rewrote the book, and subsequent copies are of the revised edition. Translations into languages as diverse as Finnish, Hebrew, Russian and Chinese as well as the standard Northern and Western European languages render the collection a rich source for translation studies and reception theory

Illustrations and cover designs by multiple illustrators provide visual interpretation, with illustrations by Omar Rayyan, Kate Oresca, Marc Simonetti and others alongside the well-known ones by Josh Kirby and Paul Kidby. Through the packaging and targeting of various issues, the collection further provides insight into publishing history and marketing techniques.

Adaptations and dramatisations of Pratchett’s work complement his own output, alone or in collaboration. So do journal articles featuring Pratchett, newsletters and fanzines ranging from The Ankh-Morpork Interesting Times to Wossname Newsletter of the Klatchian Foreign Legion, reviews and other press cuttings, posters, and a growing corpus of secondary literature. Proof copies and typescript drafts render the collection unique.

The nucleus of the collection came to Senate House Library in 2002. The collection is donated by Terry Pratchett’s agent and early publisher, Colin Smythe, and is ongoing.