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. Overview 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 covered in the novels themselves, such as character biographies and explanations of key elements, including planets, factions like the Bene Gesserit and Mentats, the spice melange, and technology such as heighliners and stillsuits. Publication 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 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." Herbert himself wrote the foreword for the Encyclopedia (dated November 1983), which noted: The Dune Encyclopedia is written as an encyclopedia published within the Dune universe itself, edited by "Hadi Benotto", a fictional archaeologist mentioned by Frank Herbert in his novels God Emperor of Dune and Heretics of Dune. Rather than claiming to contain absolute fact about this universe, the introduction by Benotto notes that "readers of The Dune Encyclopedia should understand its limitations: it is not designed as a definitive study of the entire eras encompassed by the Atreides Imperium" and that a portion of the (fictional) source material is shaped by the interests and influences of the God Emperor Leto II. In 1999, McNelly stated that he had proposed to Frank Herbert that they collaborate on a Dune prequel novel, expanding upon the Butlerian Jihad story presented in The Dune Encyclopedia. He noted, "FH and I had discussed writing it together and he agreed with my general plot outline, completed first chapter, and so on but his untimely death prevented us from continuing." Reception Dave Langford reviewed The Dune Encyclopaedia for White Dwarf #61, and stated that "The production is quite impressive, though real or faked photos instead of line-drawings would have added greatly to the "encyclopaedia" look. Whether it's