The Dune Encyclopedia
First edition cover
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| Author | Willis E. McNelly |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Matt Howarth, et al. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Dune franchise |
| Genre |
Science fiction Non-fiction |
| Published | 1984 |
| Publisher | Berkley |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Pages | 526 |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 10836869 |
The Dune Encyclopedia is a 1984 collection of essays written by Willis E. McNelly and multiple other contributors as a companion to Frank Herbert's Dune series of science fiction novels. Though approved by Herbert, his own introduction rendered the Encyclopedia non-canon. This was reasserted by the Herbert estate after the 1999 publication of the prequel novel Dune: House Atreides by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson.
The Dune Encyclopedia, written by McNelly and 42 other contributors as a companion to the Dune series, was published in paperback in 1984. It describes in great detail many aspects of the Dune universe not found in the novels themselves, such as biographies of the major characters, the languages of Fremen,Galach, and Spacing Guild (including alphabets and pronunciation), and shortened summaries of the plots of the novels. The encyclopedia also includes explanations of the armies, major schools (Bene Gesserit,Mentats, etc.), and major industries (including the spice melange), as well as descriptions of future technologies and artwork on the major characters and concepts of the novels.
The Dune Encyclopedia was published by Berkley Books, an imprint of Putnam, the publisher of all of Frank Herbert's Dune novels; the cover called the work "complete" and "authorized." Additionally, Frank Herbert approved the book, considering it "amusing" and "fascinating." The Encyclopedia was compiled and published some time between God Emperor of Dune (1981) and Heretics of Dune (1984), and Herbert "read large portions of God Emperor of Dune, then in the final stages, to McNelly during the compiling of the volume so that McNelly could keep abreast of developments." However, Herbert did not hesitate to render it erroneous through later developments in his Dune series. Herbert himself wrote the foreword for the Encyclopedia (dated November 1983), which noted:
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