"He who controls the spice controls the universe."
By HERBERT, Frank; and De FONTAINE, Dorothy , 1965
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Dune.

  • Author: HERBERT, Frank; and De FONTAINE, Dorothy
  • Publication place: Philadelphia/New York,
  • Publisher: Chilton Books,
  • Publication date: 1965.
  • Physical description: First edition, first Printing. Octavo ( 235 by 155mm), xxvi, 414pp, signature slip by Frank Herbert laid in, blue cloth, lettered in white on spine, head very slightly bumped, dust jacket with printed map lower cover.

    Issue:
    First edition, first issue of DJ with $5.95 on front flap and four lines of publisher information on back flap. xxvi, 412, [1] pp. With the two-page map of Arrakis.
  • Inventory reference: 22175

Notes

The publication history of 'Dune' is the stuff of legend.

The Book
Originally published as in serial form in 'Analog' magazine, it was rejected 23 times by established publishers before being picked up by Sterling Lanier at Chilton, a publisher of auto repair manuals, and released at the very high price of $5.95. The print run was small and about half of the initial run had to be discarded, but it gradually gained critical plaudits, including a letter from Arthur C. Clarke to Lanier that read: "Dune seems to me unique among modern science fiction novels in the depth of its characterization and the extraordinary detail of the world it creates. I know nothing comparable to it in science fiction or fantasy except 'The Lord of the Rings'". It tied for the 1966 Hugo Award, and was the inaugural winner of the Nebula Award for Best Novel. It is widely considered the best-selling science fiction book of all time, and is one of the earliest examples of climate fiction, popularizing the term "ecology".

The Map
The black and white "polar", or azimuthal equidistant, projection map by Dorothy de Fontaine, a cartographer from New Canaan, Connecticut, appears on the back cover of the dust jacket in the first edition. Its simplicity belies one of the most sophisticated examples of worldbuilding in science fiction.

The inhospitable surface of Arrakis is almost entirely composed of desert sand dunes, and is ravaged by high temperatures, regular sand storms, and the predations of the iconic sandworms. The northern pole of the planet, however, sits on a large plate of bedrock ringed by mountain ranges - the so-called "Shield Wall" - that both limits the effects of the storms, and is impregnable by the sand worms. The 60 degree latitutde circle on the map, therefore, indicates "The Wormline" - an elevated and mostly rocky surface which the worms cannot cross. The mountains are also home to vast reserves of water that, on an otherwise dry planet, are essential for the survival of the few organisms that make Arrakis their home. Human habitation at the pole was, therefore, more comfortable than elsewhere and this explains both the presence of "Arakeen", the capital city, visible at the upper right within polar latitudes, and, also, the author's unusual choice of map projection.

Frank Herbert goes to great lengths to explain not just the geography of his fantasy, but also the cosmology. Dune and its two moons are located at the "the far edge of the Old Imperium in the Canopus System", and far away from the main populated areas of the universe. It would be of little strategic importance were it not for the fact that it is the original and, for a long time, sole source of the "Spice Melange" - a natural resource vitally important for space travel, and the catalyst for the story.

Bibliography

  1. Currey, 238
  2. Pringle, 48.

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