World of Greyhawk                                             Home Up

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A fleshed-out campaign world supplement, detailing the history, places, characters, and topography of the lands of Greyhawk.  For AD&D.

World of Greyhawk by Gary Gygax

The first version came in a light-stock cardboard folio, and contains two maps and a 32-page gazetteer.  The First and Fifth prints of the folio include a MiniFigs catalog flier (double-sided); we assume that the other folio prints did as well.  The later boxed version has two maps, a 48-page Glossography, and an 80-page Catalogue.  The boxed version is, needless to say, a significant expansion on the folio. 

This campaign setting was built upon Gary Gygax's original Greyhawk campaign, and borrows a few details from the Original D&D supplement Greyhawk.  It was further expanded with the later AD&D manual Greyhawk Adventures, and also has several supporting series of modules (WG, WGA, WGM, WGQ, WGR, WGS).

Other campaign settings for 1st Edition AD&D include the Forgotten Realms and DragonLance campaigns.
 


Printing Information 
  • First (1980)
    • Folio cover:  Wizard logo, "World of Greyhawk" is in a messy black calligraphy font.  "1980, TSR Games" on bottom right appears to be stamped, not printed, and is slightly higher (about 1cm) than on the next two prints.  This is the only feature distinguishing this print from the Second print
    • Spine of folio is double-folded, like a book's.  Inside folio has the map key printed on bottom leaf
    • Gazetteer cover: "1980, TSR Games", "All Rights Reserved", and "ISBN 0-935696-23-7" are stacked and centered (they appear to have been stamped, rather than printed, and are slightly crooked).  Contributor Kevin Hendryx, a designer with TSR at the time, writes: "the stamping was a screw-up in the Production department -- the copyright info was inadvertently left out of the mockup and not caught (and Gary Gygax blew his top and handed out official company reprimands and 'demerits' to those held responsible -- yes, TSR had a penalty point system in place, like we were all involved in a live-action RPG) and it had to be added after printing.  Later printings corrected this, needless to say."  Interestingly, the copyright stamp was not corrected until the Fourth print!
    • No address or trademark statement on page 2, credits on last page do not include Otus and LaForce for artwork, and there are no statements about distribution
    • Map symbols are missing from the chart on page 4
    • Both maps have "1980, TSR Games" on the upper right, and both maps lack coordinate numbers along the left side
    • Includes a MiniFigs catalog flier
    • Thanks to Don Lynch and Neville Ridley-Smith for help with this info, and to Neville Ridley-Smith for the scan
       
  • Second
    • Folio cover:  Wizard logo, "World of Greyhawk" is in a messy black calligraphy font.  "1980, TSR Games" on bottom right now appears to be printed on.  This is the only feature distinguishing this print from the First print
    • Spine of folio is double-folded, like a book's.  Inside folio has the map key printed on bottom leaf
    • Gazetteer cover: "1980, TSR Games", "All Rights Reserved", and "ISBN 0-935696-23-7" are stacked and centered (they appear to have been stamped, rather than printed, and are slightly crooked)
    • No address or trademark statement on page 2, credits on last page do not include Otus and LaForce for artwork, and there are no statements about distribution
    • Map symbols are missing from the chart on page 4
    • Both maps have "1980, TSR Games" on the upper right, and both maps lack coordinate numbers along the left side
    • Thanks to Rene Hurka, Neville Ridley-Smith, and Daniel Thingvold for help with this info
       
  • Third
    • Folio cover:  Wizard logo, "World of Greyhawk" is in a messy black calligraphy font,  "1980, TSR Games" on bottom right
    • Spine of folio is double-folded, like a book's.  Inside folio has the map key printed on bottom leaf
    • Gazetteer cover: "1980, TSR Games", "All Rights Reserved", and "ISBN 0-935696-23-7" are stacked and centered (they appear to have been stamped, rather than printed, and are slightly crooked)
    • No address or trademark statement on page 2, credits on last page now includes Otus and LaForce for artwork, and there are no statements about distribution
    • Map symbols are now included on the chart on page 4
    • Both maps have "1980, TSR Games" on the upper right, and both maps lack coordinate numbers along the left side.  Note: a version has been spotted that has maps matching the Third print's, below
    • Thanks to Rene Hurka for help with this info
       
  • Fourth
    • Folio cover:  Wizard logo, "1980, TSR Games" on bottom right, "World of Greyhawk" is in a flowing blue font, and a large red "TSR" is to the upper right
    • Spine of folio is double-folded, like a book's.  Inside folio has the map key printed on bottom leaf
    • Gazetteer cover: "1980, TSR Games", "All Rights Reserved", and "ISBN 0-935696-23-7" are stacked and centered -- though the words now appear to be printed (not stamped), they are not crooked, and they are in a slightly different font than those of the first three prints
    • No address or trademark statement on page 2, credits on last page do include Otus and LaForce for artwork, and there is a statement about distribution by Random House and another statement about regional distributors.  There is no UK distribution statement
    • Map symbols are present on the chart on page 4
    • Both maps have "1980, TSR Games" on the lower right.  The right map (eastern region) lacks coordinate numbers on the left side
    • Thanks to Rene Hurka for help with this info, to Brian Adamik for the scan of the folio, and to Curtis French for the scan of the Gazetteer
       
  • Fifth
    • Folio cover:  Wizard logo, "1980, TSR Games" on bottom right, "World of Greyhawk" is in a flowing blue font, and a large red "TSR" is to the upper right
    • Spine of folio is single-folded, like a module's.  Inside folio has the map key printed on leaf to the right side.  This is the only feature which differentiates this print from the Fourth print
    • Gazetteer cover: "1980, TSR Games", "All Rights Reserved", and "ISBN 0-935696-23-7" are stacked and centered -- printed (not stamped)
    • No address or trademark statement on page 2, credits on last page do include Otus and LaForce for artwork, and there is a statement about distribution by Random House and another statement about regional distributors.  There is no UK distribution statement
    • Map symbols are present on the chart on page 4
    • Many people have reported "mixed" versions, with Fifth print folios and Sixth print Gazetteers (and vice versa)
    • Both maps have "1980, TSR Games" on the lower right.  The right map (eastern region) lacks coordinate numbers on the left side
    • Includes a MiniFigs catalog flier
    • Thanks to John Huckerby and Rene Hurka for this info
       
  • Sixth (1981)
    • Folio cover:  TSR Face logo, "1980, TSR Hobbies, Inc" on bottom right, "World of Greyhawk" is in a flowing blue font, and a large red "TSR" is to the upper right
    • Spine of folio is single-folded, like a module's.  Inside folio has the map key printed on leaf to the right side
    • Gazetteer cover: "1980, TSR Hobbies, Inc" and "All Rights Reserved" stacked and centered.  No ISBN
    • TSR address and trademark statement is on page 2, credits on last page do include Otus and LaForce for artwork, and there is a statement about distribution by Random House and another statement about regional distributors.  There is a UK distribution statement
    • Map symbols are present on the chart on page 4
    • Many people have reported "mixed" versions, with Fifth print folios and Sixth print Gazetteers (and vice versa)
    • Both maps have "1980, TSR Hobbies, Inc" and "All Rights Reserved." on two lines in lower right corner.  In addition there is "106-M-9025" and "115-M-9025" on left and right maps respectively, on the same line and to the right of "All Rights Reserved" but in smaller lettering.  The right map (eastern region) lacks coordinate numbers on the left side
    • Thanks to Rene Hurka for help with this info
       
  • Seventh (1983)
    • Boxed, expanded version
    • Gazetteer has now been completely re-worked into two separate, color-cover manuals: the "Catalogue" and the "Glossography"
    • Two differing versions of the Catalogue: one credits "Gary Gygax", the other, "E. Gary Gygax"
    • Maps have codes "1015XXX0702" and "1015XXX0703" on the left and right map, respectively, in place of the copyright (in the lower right corner of both maps).  Several people have reported a difference in the paper stock ("shiny" versions and "dull" versions); aside from the paper type and the resultant effect on the coloration, both map types are otherwise identical.  One contributor reports having earlier-version maps in his Seventh print set; the maps (a Sixth print right map and a Fifth print left map, no less) are slightly longer than the box, when folded; this implies there may have been a slight size reduction in the Seventh print box and booklets
    • Thanks to Dan Blum, Aaron Derrick, Justin Farrington, Frank Farris, Dan Harshman, and Mattias Sandberg for help with this info
    • Rumor has it that there may have been at least two distinct prints of the boxed set.  The only print we've seen has "Second Edition Printing, October 1983" on the inside cover of the Catalogue (which may or may not infer that the folio version was the "First Edition").  The Glossography has "First Printing, second edition: July 1983" on the inside cover.  The rumor further states that "Written by Gary Gygax" is missing from the inside cover of the First print Catalogue, though this may have been confused with the "Gary / E. Gary" issue noted above.  Further confirmation needed!

Auction Commentary & History

Folio versions, especially ones in good condition (the folio is oversized, and is often found with crumpled edges) are quite rare.  Boxed sets are far more common, but are also rarely found pristine.

  • World of Greyhawk (folio):  2nd prt NM/SW: $46 (12/99), 2nd prt NM/SW: $104 (10/05),
      5th prt NM/SW:
    $51 (3/03),  6h prt FN: $30 (3/00), 6th prt NM/SW: $77 (5/00)


World of Greyhawk (1st)

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World of Greyhawk
(2nd/3rd)


Gazetteer (1st-3rd)

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World of Greyhawk
(4th/5th)


Gazetteer (4th/5th)

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World of Greyhawk (6th)


Gazetteer (6th)

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World of Greyhawk (7th)


Catalogue (7th)


Glossography (7th)