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LOT #45005 |
Current Bid: $25,000
Isaac Asimov. I, Robot....
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Description
THE DEDICATION COPY OF ONE OF THE MOST ICONIC TITLES IN SCIENCE FICTION
Isaac Asimov. I, Robot. New York: Gnome Press, Inc.,
[1950].8vo. Publisher's red cloth, spine and front board stamped in black (Currey binding A); original pictorial dust jacket.
FIRST EDITION. THE DEDICATION COPY, INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOR TO THE DEDICATEE ON THE DATE OF PUBLICATION, and on the front free endpaper: "For: John W. Campbell, Jr. / Believe me, the dedication is insufficient acknowledgement of your many helpful talks with me! / Isaac Asimov / 12/2/50." ADDITIONALLY SIGNED BY THE DUST JACKET DESIGNER on the front free endpaper: "Edd Cartier."
Published in December 1950, I, Robot collects nine stories written between 1940 and 1950, "which present a continuous narrative of the near-future rise of intelligent machines with 'positronic' brains. This was the book which first established Asimov's reputation as a writer" (Pringle).
John W. Campbell, Jr. (1910-1971) was a science fiction author and editor. He attended MIT (but did not graduate), eventually earning a degree in Physics from Duke University. He spent the majority of his career first as an author, and later as the editor of Astounding Stories (retitled Astounding Science-Fiction in 1938 and Analog in 1960). As an author in the early 1930s, Campbell "quickly built a reputation as E.E. 'Doc' Smith's chief rival in writing galactic epics of superscience" (Clute & Nicholls). As an editor, he discovered Isaac Asimov, Lester del Ray, Robert A. Heinlein, Theodore Sturgeon, and A. E. van Vogt. Established science fiction authors L. Sprague de Camp, L. Ron Hubbard, Clifford D. Simak, and Jack Williamson later became part of Campbell's "stable" (Clute & Nicholls). He "was a true giant in popularity among those authors who had grown out of the science-fiction magazines" (Moskowitz).
Between 1952 and 1964, he won eight Hugo Awards for Best Editor; under his editorship, Astounding Science Fiction won seven Hugo Awards for Best Magazine. Upon his death, two awards were founded bearing his name: the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel.
Asimov credited Campbell with inventing the Three Laws of Robotics; Campbell asserted the laws were implicit in Asimov's short story, "Reason," published by Campbell in the April 1941 issue of Astounding Science Fiction. The three laws as we know them today first appeared in Asimov's fourth robot story, "Runaround," published in March 1942. Asimov thus dedicated I, Robot to Campbell, "who god-fathered the robots."
THE DEFINITIVE ASSOCIATION COPY, inextricably linking two giants of the golden age of science fiction, whose contributions to the genre cannot be overstated.
Condition: Water damage to rear board, spine also a little affected; some dulling to finish on front board; spine ends just pushed and corners a little rubbed; a few pale stains to text; text block cracked after third gathering. Dust jacket unclipped (priced "$2.50"); water damage to rear panel with loss (about 12 x 8 mm); rear panel rubbed with abrasions; spine sunned and with some vertical abrasions; abrasion to front panel with some mild rubbing; red staining to verso of spine and rear panels, corresponding to discoloration on rear board; mild edgewear and few short tears. Despite flaws, almost certainly the most important copy of this foundational science fiction text.
References: Barron, Anatomy of Wonder (1976), 4-40; Barron, Anatomy of Wonder (2004), II-49; John Clute and Peter Nicholls (eds.), The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (St. Martin's Griffin, 1995), pp. 187-188; Currey, p. 17; Sam Moskowitz, Seekers of Tomorrow: Masters of Modern Science Fiction (Hyperion Press, 1974), pp. 27-46; Pringle, p. 180.
Provenance: John W. Campbell, Jr. (presentation inscription). From the collection of David Aronovitz.
Auction Info
2026 May 13 The David Aronovitz Collection of Important Science Fiction and Fantasy, Part I Rare Books Signature® Auction #6336 (go to Auction Home page)
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13th
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