Star Trek History Explored in Autographs of the Final Frontier

We love our Star Trek: The Original Series (or, as it’s also known, Star Trek) here at Den of Geek, which is why we’re always on the lookout for pop culture that celebrates the iconic show.

We’ve mentioned Gerald Gurian’s series of behind-the-scenes Star Trek books—To Boldly Go: Rare Photos from the TOS Soundstage—before. Gurian’s latest book is called Autographs of the Final Frontier: Rare Signatures, Warm Sentiments and Handwritten Filming Memories from the Cast, Crew and Guest Stars of TOS, and it’s a fascinating piece of both Star Trek history and fan history.

Some of the gems included in the 500-page book include: a memo from Leonard Nimoy to Gene Roddenberry offered suggestions on an upcoming script, call sheets from the production of the first Star Trek pilot, and countless handwritten notes from members of the cast and production to fans.

Scroll through the gallery at the top of the page to see more peeks into Autographs of the Final Frontier, which has over 450 autograph examples and 500 behind-the-scenes photos. It spans all three seasons of The Original Series, and includes notes from various guest actors reflecting on their experience filming Star Trek.

Autographs of the Final Frontier is a must-have (or at least must-consider) for any Star Trek: The Original Series fan, or anyone who is interested in television history.

Buy Autographs of the Final Frontier on Amazon

Here’s the full book synopsis:

With over 450 autographs and 500 rare behind-the-scenes photos, this 498 page full color volume presents one of the most comprehensive collections of Original Series autographs ever assembled, featuring many rarely seen signatures from prominent guest stars as well as members of the studio production team and the artists that were involved with all aspects of the show’s development – from set design and costume creation to prop fabrication, screenwriting, directing and even musical composition. The collection is highlighted by dozens of handwritten notes from various guest actors that reminisce about their experiences while filming their TOS episode and, whether it be Meg Wyllie’s remarks on her early morning makeup calls to become the Talosian “The Keeper”, or France Nuyen’s reflections on having Elaan’s armor costume plates glued to her skin, or Don Marshall’s remembrance of creative differences with the Director on the demeanor of his Lt. Boma character and how Leonard Nimoy intervened on his behalf, or BarBara Luna’s anecdote about falling ill with a severe flu while filming her scenes, readers can enjoy discovering many little pieces of Star Trek history directly from the handwritten accounts of the actual actors involved. The hundreds of autographs featured in this book were assembled by the author over the course of almost 42 years of collecting, beginning with some in-person signatures obtained from Nichelle Nichols, James Doohan and others at the Toronto Star Trek ’76 convention held at the Royal York Hotel in his hometown of Toronto, Canada in late July, 1976. Together with it’s additional biographical data on the artists, and the hundreds of rare behind-the-scenes production photos from all three seasons of TOS, including many new images not shown in the author’s To Boldly Go – Rare Photos from the TOS Soundstage book series, this edition is truly a unique and enjoyable treasure trove of Star Trek filming history.