In 1984, Del Rey Books published
A Guide to the Star Wars Universe, the first reference book meant to catalog the many items of the fictional universe. The small paperback had about 900 entries in its 215 pages. By 1998, it took 354 pages to fill out the first full
Star Wars Encyclopedia. Now, in 2008, these books are are overshadowed by the three volumes found within Del Rey's upcoming titan,
The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia! Written by Steve Sansweet, Pablo Hidalgo, Bob Vitas, Daniel Wallace, Josh Kushins, Mary Franklin and Chris Cassidy,
the 1,200-plus-page reference book is the ultimate guide on the ever-expanding
Star Wars universe. In order to fit in all the characters, starships, species, planets, creatures and details of over 30 years of movies, novels, comics, games, guides and more, Del Rey has split the
Encyclopedia into three volumes contained within a slipcase. Here's a look at the individual covers in the works for Volume 1 (A-G), Volume 2 (H-O), and Volume 3 (P-Z).
Star Wars: The Complete Encyclopedia is due out on December 9, 2008.