This is a guest post by Deuce Richardson:

Today marks the fifteenth anniversary of Gary Gygax’s death. Obviously, Mr. Gygax was a titanic force in the birth and success of fantasy role-playing games. I, myself, was a D&D gamer and DM during the ’80s and ’90s. However, I was a reader and scholar of SFF/horror before I started gaming and still am now, long after. Thus, it is the literary impact of Gygax that I will examine today. Specifically, Gary’s ‘Appendix N’ from TSR’s Dungeon Master’s Guide (1979).

I read ‘Appendix N’ soon after I began gaming in the ’80s. I remember thinking,”Pretty legit”, or something to that effect. I’d already read The Spell of Conan and The Blade of Conan. Between their covers, they examined most of the books/authors on Gygax’s list or contained essays written by those authors–and far, far more. A few authors were not mentioned. I remember thinking, “Who the hell is John Bellairs?”–but that’s to be expected.

I began to develop some real respect for ‘Appendix N’ in 2009, when I saw how James Maliszewki at Grognardia was using App N to point the OSR guys toward the pulp fiction classics. Then, in 2010-2011, both Grognardia and The Cimmerian blog went on hiatus. I took a break myself, coming back to SFF fandom in 2012. In 2015, I became aware of Jeffro Johnson’s App N posts on the Castalia House blog. Once again, I thought, “You go, Gary.”

Jeffro eventually turned those posts into an honest-to-Crom book by way of Castalia House Press. He made a good argument for ‘Appendix N’ being not just an ‘inspiration’, but as a template from Gygax on how to approach playing/DMing D&D. ‘Appendix N’ was integral to playing D&D as it was originally intended. Jeffro’s book is a landmark work, in my opinion.

All that considered, I asked myself the question, “Who edited/published the vast majority of books and authors that inspired Gygax?”

Before I answer that, let us look at the original text from “Appendix N”. I’ve found that it is a bit harder than one might think to find the entire original text online.

“Inspiration for all the fantasy work I have done stems directly from the love my father showed when I was a tad, for he spent many hours telling me stories he made up as he went along, tales of cloaked old men who could grant wishes, of magic rings and enchanted swords, or wicked sorcerers, and dauntless swordsmen.

Then too, countless hundreds of comic books went down, and the long-gone EC ones certainly had their effect. Science fiction, fantasy, and horror movies were a big influence. In fact, all of us tend to get ample helpings of fantasy when we are very young from fairy tales such as those written by the Brothers Grimm and Andrew Lang. This often leads to reading books of mythology, paging through bestiaries, and consultation of compilations of the myths of various lands and peoples.

Upon such a base I built my interest in fantasy, being an avid reader of all science fiction and fantasy literature since 1950.

The following authors were of particular inspiration to me. In some cases I cite specific works, in others, I simply recommend all of their fantasy writing to you. From such sources, as well as any other imaginative writing or screenplay, you will be able to pluck kernels from which will grow the fruits of exciting campaigns. Good reading!

Inspirational Reading:

Anderson, Poul. THREE HEARTS AND THREE LIONS; THE HIGH

CRUSADE; THE BROKEN SWORD

Bellairs, John. THE FACE IN THE FROST

Brackett, Leigh.

Brown, Fredric.

Burroughs, Edgar Rice. “Pellucidar” Series; Mars Series; Venus Series

Carter, Lin. “World’s End” Series

de Camp, L. Sprague. LEST DARKNESS FALL; FALLIBLE FIEND; et al.

de Camp & Pratt. “Harold Shea” Series; CARNELIAN CUBE

Derleth, August.

Dunsany, Lord.

Farmer, P. J. “The World of Tiers” Series; et al.

Fox, Gardner. “Kothar” Series; “Kyrik” Series; et al.

Howard, R. E. “Conan” Series

Lanier, Sterling. HIERO’S JOURNEY

Leiber, Fritz. “Fafhrd & Gray Mouser” Series; et al.

Lovecraft, H. P.

Merritt, A. CREEP, SHADOW, CREEP; MOON POOL; DWELLERS IN THE

MIRAGE; et al.

Moorcock, Michael. STORMBRINGER; STEALER OF SOULS; “Hawkmoon”

Series (esp. the first three books)

Norton, Andre

Offutt, Andrew J., editor SWORDS AGAINST DARKNESS III.

Pratt, Fletcher, BLUE STAR; et al.

Saberhagen, Fred. CHANGELING EARTH; et al.

St. Clair, Margaret. THE SHADOW PEOPLE; SIGN OF THE LABRYS

Tolkien, J. R. R. THE HOBBIT; “Ring Trilogy”

Vance, Jack. THE EYES OF THE OVERWORLD; THE DYING EARTH; et al.

Weinbaum, Stanley.

Wellman, Manly Wade.

Williamson, Jack.

Zelazny, Roger. JACK OF SHADOWS; “Amber” Series; et al.

The most immediate influences upon AD&D were probably de Camp & Pratt, REH, Fritz Leiber, Jack Vance, HPL, and A. Merritt; but all of the above authors, as well as many not listed, certainly helped to shape the form of the game. For this reason, and for the hours of reading enjoyment, I heartily recommend the works of these fine authors to you.”

There you have it. Now I’ll tell you who–without a doubt–is the only possible candidate for ‘Editor of Appendix N’. The one man who–to one extent or another–published or popularized nearly all of the authors/books listed in that document: Donald A. Wollheim. No other editor comes even close.

For those who have only a vague idea of Wollheim’s legendary career, especially when it comes to the more pulpish side of SFF/horror, feel free to read these posts first:

The Sword and Sorcery Legacy of Donald A. Wollheim: Part One

The Sword and Sorcery Legacy of Donald A. Wollheim: Part One — DMR Books

The Sword and Sorcery Legacy of Donald A. Wollheim: Part Two

The Sword and Sorcery Legacy of Donald A. Wollheim: Part Two — DMR Books

The Fiftieth Anniversary of DAW Books

The Fiftieth Anniversary of DAW Books — DMR Books

For the TL;DR crowd, I’ll just summarize things by saying that Wollheim published and edited The Phantagraph, wherein he corresponded with and published Robert E. Howard and H.P. Lovecraft while they were still alive. After editing/publishing/editing two pioneering SF pulps, Wollheim edited The Pocket Book of Science Fiction in 1943, the first book of its kind and hugely influential. He then edited the first hardcover SF omnibus, The Portable Science Novels for Viking Books. The Girl With the Hungry Eyes (Avon, 1949) was not only the first all-original SF anthology in paperback, the title story was by Fritz Leiber. Wollheim, while at Avon, would publish nearly all of A. Merritt’s novels for the first time in paperback. Moving to Ace Books, Wollheim almost immediately published the Ace Double Novel of Robert. E Howard’s Conan the Conqueror and Brackett’s The Sword of Rhiannon. At Ace Books, Wollheim sparked both the ‘Edgar Rice Burroughs Boom’ and the ‘Tolkien Boom’ which led to Lancer Books publishing Conan and Ballantine publishing their ‘Adult Fantasy Series’. Wollheim would go on to publish, for the first time in paperback, the tales of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, along with Vance’s Cugel the Clever. When he created DAW Books in 1971, Wollheim made Moorcock’s Elric a sensation in the American market.

That summary just barely scratches the surface of Wollheim’s achievements.

Let’s get a bit more granular, shall we? We’ll go line by line and see just how closely Wollheim’s career as an editor aligns with Gygax’s ‘Appendix N’.

Anderson, Poul. THREE HEARTS AND THREE LIONS; THE HIGH CRUSADE; THE BROKEN SWORD

Wollheim never published any of these as an editor. However, he was an early supporter of Anderson, publishing No World of Their Own as an Ace Double in 1955. Don would go on to publish works from Anderson for the next three decades.

Bellairs, John. THE FACE IN THE FROST

Wollheim didn’t publish this and I don’t blame him.

Brackett, Leigh.

As noted above, Brackett’s The Sword of Rhiannon was one of the first novels Wollheim published at Ace, which was also Leigh’s first SF publication in paperback. Wollheim would go on to publish numerous works from Brackett.

Brown, Fredric.

From a cursory look, it appears Wollheim published nothing from Brown.

Burroughs, Edgar Rice. “Pellucidar” Series; Mars Series; Venus Series

This entry makes up for Bellairs and Brown in spades. Without question, Wollheim ignited the ‘Burroughs Boom’ back in the early ”60s. If Gygax read ERB, it is very likely he read an Ace edition or one of the collateral Ballantine editions.

Carter, Lin. “World’s End” Series

Wollheim’s DAW Books published this series. Don was the first and LAST editor to publish Carter in paperback while Lin was still alive.

de Camp, L. Sprague. LEST DARKNESS FALL; FALLIBLE FIEND; et al.

de Camp & Pratt. “Harold Shea” Series; CARNELIAN CUBE

Wollheim was one of the first editors to publish de Camp in paperback.

Derleth, August.

Wollheim published Derleth in 10 Story Fantasy.

Dunsany, Lord.

Wollheim published no Dunsany that I know of, but Dunsany wasn’t being published by anyone else, either.

Farmer, P. J. “The World of Tiers” Series; et al.

Don nurtured Farmer, buying early works like, The Cache from Outer Space and The Makler of Universes, which is part of the ‘World of Tiers’ series.

Fox, Gardner. “Kothar” Series; “Kyrik” Series; et al.

Wollheim bought early novels from Fox, such as Warrior of Llarn. Don invented the term ‘sword and planet’, by the way.

Howard, R. E. “Conan” Series

Wollheim was the first paperback editor to publish Conan in paperback. He also published Almuric before the ‘Howard Boom’ ever started. Don laid the foundations of the Howard Boom, as I explain here.

Lanier, Sterling. HIERO’S JOURNEY

Wollheim was never an editor for Lanier.

Leiber, Fritz. “Fafhrd & Gray Mouser” Series; et al.

Don was the first editor to give a paperback cover to Leiber with The Girl With Hungry Eyes. Later, he would be the first to get Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser into paperback.

Lovecraft, H. P.

Wollheim corresponded with Lovecraft. He published works from HPL when the Old Gent was still alive. ‘Nuff said.

Merritt, A. CREEP, SHADOW, CREEP; MOON POOL; DWELLERS IN THE

MIRAGE; et al.

Merritt made sure to get Merritt back into print as soon as possible. Check out the year of 1954 from Avon. The only reason Don didn’t publish Merritt at Ace or DAW is because Avon wouldn’t turn loose of the license–which Wollheim negotiated.

Moorcock, Michael. STORMBRINGER; STEALER OF SOULS; “Hawkmoon”

Series (esp. the first three books)

Lancer Books tried to make Moorcock’s Elric and Hawkmoon successes in the USA. Wollheim actually succeeded.

“Donald A. Wollheim of Ace Books spent most of his career in the pulps or editing sensational collections like his wonderful Avon Fantasy Readers. He had great taste. He was an incredibly keen fan of adventure fantasy, from Edgar Rice Burroughs on. He was the first publisher to offer the world a paperback edition of a Howard novel: Conan the Conqueror as one half of a 1953 Ace Double (two short novels published back to back) with Howard’s great admirer Leigh Brackett’s The Sword of Rhiannon.

It has to be said that Wollheim also discovered that Burroughs’ A Princess of Mars was out of copyright in the U.S. and that The Lord of the Rings was never copyrighted there and so, unable to purchase the rights from super-snobbish Allen and Unwin in the UK, he simply went ahead and put them out in the garish editions Tolkien and his publishers most dreaded! This attracted the attention of American college campuses and the rest is history.” — Michael Moorcock

Norton, Andre

Wollheim was the first editor to publish Norton in paperback. By her own admission, Wollheim is the one who pushed her to write her first ‘Witch World’ stories. Norton followed Don from Ace to DAW Books and then talked him into publishing Quag Keep, the first D&D-based novel ever.

Offutt, Andrew J., editor SWORDS AGAINST DARKNESS III.

The ‘Swords Against Darkness’ books from Zebra were the best sword-and-sorcery anthos of the 1970s. That said, Offutt wrote mostly porn up to that point. Wollheim had nothing to do with this series. DAW Books’ ‘Year’s Best Fantasy’ from this period was nearly as good.

Pratt, Fletcher, BLUE STAR; et al.

Wollheim published Pratt’s Alien Planet in 1963.

Saberhagen, Fred. CHANGELING EARTH; et al.

Don published Changeling Earth while at Ace Books.

St. Clair, Margaret. THE SHADOW PEOPLE; SIGN OF THE LABRYS

Wollheim published St. Clair’s first three novels.

Tolkien, J. R. R. THE HOBBIT; “Ring Trilogy”

This deserves its own post. The simple fact is that the Ace editions ‘broke’ LotR in America. Before that, it was just a mild sensation among the SFF literati. Also, JRRT ended up making more PER COPY from the Aces than he did from the Ballantines.

Vance, Jack. THE EYES OF THE OVERWORLD; THE DYING EARTH; et al.

Wollheim published Vance’s fourth and fifth novels in 1958. Most importantly, he talked Jack into making the various Cugel tales into the episodic novel, The Eyes of the Overworld, which was published the same year as Conan the Adventurer.

Weinbaum, Stanley.

Like Bellairs, Weinbaum is niche. That said, I’m somewhat surprised that Wollheim didn’t publish him.

Wellman, Manly Wade.

Wollheim published MWW’s The Dark Destroyers in 1960.

Williamson, Jack.

Wollheim published Star Bridge in 1955.

Zelazny, Roger. JACK OF SHADOWS; “Amber” Series; et al.

Ace Books published first editions of This Immortal and The Dream Master. Wollheim nurtured Zelazny when Roger was finding his footing in SFF,

That finishes Gary’s list. On some of these, I just scratched the surface, Go to ISFDB and dig deep. Wollheim’s reach was long and broad.

For those who disagree…bring it. Show me a challenger. Wollheim dominated the entire era during which Gygax grew up. As Gary said:

“Upon such a base I built my interest in fantasy, being an avid reader of all science fiction and fantasy literature since 1950.”

Wollheim became an editor at Avon in the late ’40s and was the editor at DAW Books when Gygax wrote those words.

Hail to Gygax! Hail to Wollheim!