Asimov, Isaac (1982) ‘The Foundation Trilogy’, US first anthology edition

Isaac Asimov (1982) ‘The Foundation Trilogy‘, US first trade combined edition which collates ‘ Foundation’, ‘Foundation and Empire’, and ‘Second Foundation’ into one book for the first time, published by Doubleday. Signed and inscribed by Asimov on the title page: “To Jason | happy 18th birthday | Isaac Asimov | 3 July 86”.

Condition: near fine with one light stain to bottom page block. Otherwise, clean throughout without any previous owner’s scribbles; the book feels unread. A beautiful copy. The dust jacket is not price clipped showwing the USD 19.95 on he front flap, one damp stain to foot as shown.

The book contains the three Foundation classics which were originally published by Gnome Press back in the early 1950s:

– Foundation (1951)

– Foundation and Empire (1952)

– Second Foundation (1953)

There were a number of book club editions published already in the 1950s which combined the three Foundation stories into one volume. However, later Doubleday became Asimov’s publisher and persuaded him to write ‘Foundation’s Edge’ (1982) with a hefty advance. Doubleday therefore also issued the trade Foundation anthology edition. Notice the relative high price Doubleday charged of this anthology edition of USD 19.95 which corresponds to roughly USD 60 in today’s value.

The Foundation Trilogy was accoladed with the Hugo for the best sci-fi series of all time. A TV-series funded by Apple TV has adapted the source material.