Map of the world in which William Goldman's tongue-in-cheek "Romantasy", 'The Princess Bride', takes place.

The Author
William Goldman (1931-1987) was one of the greatest scriptwriters of the twentieth century. Three of his scripts have been voted into the Writers Guild of America Hall-of-Fame's '101 Greatest Screenplays' list: 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid', and 'All the President's Men' - both of which won him an Oscar, and 'The Princess Bride' which he adapted from his own novel.

Goldman said of his work: "I [don't] like my writing. I wrote a movie called 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid' and I wrote a novel called 'The Princess Bride' and those are the only two things I've ever written, not that I'm proud of, but that I can look at without humiliation" (Egan). He joked that when he died, all the headlines would read "Oscar- winning screenwriter of 'Butch Cassidy' dies". He was partly correct: some notices mentioned 'The Princess Bride' too...

In fact, Goldman's phenomenally successful writing career includes many other greats, including: 'The Stepford Wives' (1975), 'A Bridge Too Far' (1977), 'Papillon' (1973 - as an uncredited contributing writer), 'Marathon Man' (1976) and 'Magic' (1978) which were both adapted from his own novels, and 'Heat' (1985).

The Map
The map is centred on a compass rose and depicts the feuding states of Florin and Guilder, separated by the Sea of Dispair. The Humperdinck coat of arms is prominent in the middle of the map. Other aspects of the tale visible include the ravine, the oak tree and rope, snow sand, four white horses, the fishermen's village, and the zoo of death.

In a nod to Goldman's obituary predictions, the map is entitled 'S. Morgenstern's classic tale of true love and high adventure "The Princess Bride" – the good parts version abridged by William Goldman, author of "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid'".