Praxium

The Tom Veitch Files

Yale’s Beinecke Library 1016 photographs

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Tom Veitch archive photograph IMG_4353
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Transcription

Automatic transcription · may contain errors

Early Sith questions & Freedon Nadd

[uncertain: are based on the authorized stories that are pre-quels to the?] Star Wars 1-3 movies. Mind you these are short stories. And the actual 1st movie may contain most if not all mentioned here in its final draft of which I only have a rough pre-write’s worth of. I would like to thank Jay for not hurrying me. So enough about me. Here’s the good stuff you have been waiting for! By the way I made up that quote pretty cool huh? Basic Story Summary Part II Episode 1 A NEW FORCE In the first proposed episode, what is to become the Old Republic is dying with the rise of a new force; the Empire. It is growing in power every year. This time it has a new weapon: Clones. In what will be called the Clone Wars, both sides resort to clones, even with the knowledge that any clone is emotionally unstable and is very likely to turn on the person it was originated from. [margin: red bracket beside the following paragraph] Jedi are still powerful and are rulers as well as the most respected members of a government. There are Master Jedi that make even Obi Wan Kenobi look like a child in terms of power. There are also evil renegade Jedi. As the story unfolds, the Empire is abducting people of all races to serve as slaves. This is causing an uproar in the Jedi community, as some are debating to join the Empire and the Dark Side in order to escape the brutal killings of Jedi. Yoda has taught Obi Wan Kenobi the ways of the Force. Kenobi now feels confident in his powers and wishes to teach the ways of the Force to a young warrior of the Old Republic. This warrior is called Anakin Skywalker, who later marries the future mother of Leia and Luke. He later kills her accidentally in battle. Anakin Skywalker grows more powerful with the Force, which worries Yoda as Kenobi has not taught Anakin the dangers of the Dark Side of the Force. The Emperor senses Anakin’s strong power and leads him to an ambush which critically injures Skywalker, forcing him to become a cyborg, implanted with mechanical devices that grow in complexity. [inserted: (Contradicts the Obi-Wan/Vader volcano battle.)] With a rage of anger over his deteriorating body, he is pushed [uncertain: to?] the ways of the Dark Side by the Emperor. Easily, with his increasing power, he becomes a vital part of the Imperial Fleet and soon takes the helm of his first Star Destroyer.

Read alongside the photograph, especially for handwritten passages. Bracketed notes may mark uncertain or illegible text.

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The Tom Veitch Files

On August 18, 2026, Praxis visited Yale’s Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library and photographed 1016 pages from the Tom Veitch papers. This collection brings those early drafts, unused stories, correspondence, and handwritten notes together for everyone to explore.

YCAL MSS 1368 · Boxes 3, 5, 42, 76, and 77

Box 3
Dark Empire and Tales of the Jedi correspondence, proposals, and annotated drafts.
Box 5
Lucasfilm approvals, contracts, Kevin J. Anderson correspondence, and audio adaptation material.
Box 42
Tales of the Jedi and Dark Lords of the Sith proposals, scripts, artwork, and proofs.
Box 76
Handwritten Star Wars drafts and the Log X notebook.
Box 77
Dark Empire, Dark Lords of the Sith, and Tales of the Jedi notebooks and plots.

The descriptions above follow Yale’s finding aid. These photographs are a selection from those boxes; individual images have not yet been assigned to exact boxes and folders. Image numbers follow photography order, with occasional gaps.

These are working papers: some ideas were approved, some changed, and some never reached publication. Most transcriptions are automatic; checked passages use the corrected text.

There’s plenty to explore. Have fun looking!