Isaac Asimov and Gnome Press: How a Small Publisher Built the Foundation of Science Fiction
By the time Isaac Asimov published his first novel, he was already one of the most recognizable names in science fiction. His short stories had been fixtures in Astounding Science Fiction throughout the 1940s, and editor John W. Campbell had helped shape his voice into something that felt genuinely new — rigorous, rational, optimistic about human intelligence. What Asimov needed next was a publisher willing to bet on him in hardcover.
That publisher turned out to be Gnome Press.
Between 1950 and 1953, Gnome published four titles that would define Asimov's legacy: I, Robot and the three novels of the Foundation trilogy — Foundation, Foundation and Empire, and Second Foundation. For collectors, these four books represent the most significant concentration of Asimov firsts under a single imprint, and some of the most complex bibliographic puzzles in mid-century science fiction.
The Relationship: Asimov, Greenberg, and the Gnome Years
Gnome Press, founded in 1948 by Martin Greenberg and David A. Kyle, had an extraordinary eye for talent. As we've covered in our history of Gnome Press, the press made a habit of publishing authors the major New York houses hadn't yet taken seriously. Asimov was a prime example.
I, Robot — a collection of nine stories unified by the fictional device of the Three Laws of Robotics — had appeared piecemeal in the pulps during the 1940s. Gnome brought them together in a single hardcover volume in 1950, giving the collection the permanence and legitimacy that pulp publication couldn't offer. Foundation followed in 1951, assembled from stories that had run in Astounding between 1942 and 1950. The sequels came quickly: Foundation and Empire in 1952, Second Foundation in 1953.
Gnome's relationship with Asimov was commercially significant but not always smooth. Like many of the small specialty publishers of the era, Gnome operated on thin margins and unreliable cash flow. Royalty disputes were common. By the mid-1950s, Asimov had moved his new work to Doubleday — a more stable home, if a less historically interesting one for collectors. The Gnome titles remained in print under the Gnome imprint for some years, producing the multiple binding variants that make identifying true firsts so important.
The Fix-Up Novel and the Golden Age
Both I, Robot and Foundation belong to a specific and important literary tradition: the fix-up novel. The term describes a book assembled from previously published short stories, revised and connected — sometimes loosely, sometimes through an elaborate framing device — into a unified whole. It was a natural fit for the Golden Age, when the pulps were the primary venue for SF and the best stories deserved a longer life than a single magazine run.
The form's most celebrated practitioner was A.E. van Vogt, widely credited as the father of the fix-up novel. His The World of Null-A — a first edition of which we currently have in the shop — and Masters of Time — also available in our inventory — are canonical examples: pulp stories woven into something more ambitious, more durable, and ultimately more collectible. Asimov was working in the same tradition. The Susan Calvin framing device in I, Robot and the Galactic Empire architecture underlying the Foundation stories gave Gnome the connective tissue to market serialized pulp work as genuine novels — and gave collectors the unified first editions that define the canon today.
Collecting the Gnome Press Asimov Firsts
The four Gnome Press Asimov titles share a common characteristic: all carry "First edition so stated on copyright page" as their primary identifier. But the copyright page statement alone is not sufficient for confident attribution on any of them. Binding variants, dust jacket states, and — in the case of I, Robot — a deceptive military reprint mean that physical examination is essential.
All bibliographic details below are cross-referenced against L.W. Currey's Science Fiction and Fantasy Authors: A Bibliography of First Printings of Their Fiction and Selected Nonfiction (revised edition). Collectors should verify against Currey or Chalker and Owings before attributing any specific copy.
I, Robot (Gnome Press, 1950)
The first of the Gnome Asimov titles and, for many collectors, the most important. The copyright page carries a first edition statement — but so does the military reprint
Around 1951, Gnome reprinted I, Robot in paper wrappers for distribution to U.S. military personnel. According to Currey, this later printing retains the first edition statement from the copyright page. That makes the binding the critical distinguishing factor: a true first is in cloth boards, not wrappers. If you're evaluating a copy claiming to be a first edition, the binding must be confirmed before the copyright page statement carries any weight.
The dust jacket for the first edition features one of the most recognizable images in Golden Age SF collecting — and jacketed copies command a significant premium over unjacketed ones
Foundation (Gnome Press, 1951)
Foundation presents two binding variants, with priority established by Currey as follows:
(A) Cloth; sheets measure 20.3 x 13.5 cm; sheets bulk 1.9 cm across the top (B) Boards; sheets measure 20.3 x 12.5 cm; sheets bulk 1.4 cm across the top
The cloth binding is the earlier and more desirable state. Sheet measurements and bulk are the distinguishing physical characteristics — which means that for high-value copies, a ruler matters as much as the copyright page.
Dust jacket priority is equally specific. Two jackets exist:
(A) Priority jacket: Rear panel advertises three titles — Foundation, Tomorrow and Tomorrow and the Fairy Chessmen, and The Sword of Conan; inner rear flap advertises Journey to Infinity and Typewriter in the Sky and Fear(B) Later jacket: Rear panel lists 32 titles; inner flap advertises Foundation and Empire and Second Foundation
The jacket advertising only three titles is the earlier state. A copy in binding (A) with jacket (A) represents the ideal first — and is priced accordingly in today's market.
Note: Foundation was later reissued with abridged text as The 1,000 Year Plan (Ace Books, 1955). That Ace paperback is a reissue, not a first edition in any sense, despite appearing to some buyers as an accessible entry point to the title.
Foundation and Empire (Gnome Press, 1952)
The most bibliographically complex of the four. Currey identifies three binding variants, two issues or printings, and two dust jacket states.
Bindings, in priority order:(A) Red boards lettered in black; publisher's imprint on spine measures 2.2 cm across (B) Red boards lettered in black; publisher's imprint on spine measures 2.8 cm across (C) Green boards lettered in black; publisher's imprint on spine measures 2.8 cm across
The spine imprint measurement — 2.2 cm versus 2.8 cm — is the distinguishing detail between the first two binding states. This is the kind of point of issue that rewards collectors who bring a ruler to their evaluation.
Issues/printings, in priority order:(1) Sheets bulk 1.8 cm across the top (2) Sheets bulk 2.3 cm across the top
Dust jacket states:(A) Printed in four colors; 26 titles listed on rear panel (B) Printed in blue and black only; 32 titles listed on rear panel
The four-color jacket with 26 titles is the earlier and more desirable state. A copy in binding (A) with jacket state (A) and sheet bulk (1) is the ideal first — though assembling all three in a single copy requires careful documentation.
Foundation and Empire was later reissued as The Man Who Upset the Universe (Ace Books, 1955) — again, a reissue, not a first.
Second Foundation (Gnome Press, 1953)
Four binding variants, with priority established by Currey:
(A) Blue boards lettered in brown (B) Green boards lettered in black (C) Gray cloth lettered in red (D) Boards with cloth shelf back; DOUBLEDAY/SCIENCE/FICTION at base of spine
The fourth binding variant is particularly notable: copies in binding (D) carry the Doubleday Science Fiction designation at the spine base, indicating a late-stage reissue of the Gnome sheets under a different commercial arrangement. These are not true Gnome Press firsts in any meaningful collecting sense, regardless of what the copyright page says.
Blue boards lettered in brown is the earliest state.
Beyond Gnome: Earth Is Room Enough (Doubleday, 1957)
By the time Asimov published Earth Is Room Enough — a short story collection — with Doubleday in 1957, he had fully transitioned to the major New York publishers. The Doubleday firsts carry "First edition so stated on copyright page" and are generally more straightforward to identify than the Gnome titles, though condition and jacket presence still drive significant price variation.
Earth Is Room Enough is a more accessible entry point to Asimov firsts than the Gnome Press titles, which have become genuinely scarce in collectible condition. We have a first edition with dust jacket currently available in our shop — browse current inventory here.
Currey also notes a charming bibliographic quirk in a nearby Doubleday Asimov title: The Martian Way (1955) has AZIMOV — missing the first "s" — misspelled on the spine of all examined copies. A minor point of issue, but the kind of detail that separates a careful bibliographer from a casual buyer.
What to Look For: A Quick Reference
I, Robot (Gnome Press, 1950): Cloth boards (not wrappers). The circa 1951 military reprint in paper wrappers retains the first edition copyright page statement — binding is the only reliable distinguishing factor.
Foundation (Gnome Press, 1951): Priority binding is cloth, with sheets measuring 20.3 x 13.5 cm and bulking 1.9 cm across the top. Priority dust jacket has a rear panel advertising three titles only — Foundation, Tomorrow and Tomorrow and the Fairy Chessmen, and The Sword of Conan.
Foundation and Empire (Gnome Press, 1952): Priority binding is red boards with the publisher's spine imprint measuring 2.2 cm across; sheets bulk 1.8 cm across the top. Priority dust jacket is printed in four colors with 26 titles on the rear panel.
Second Foundation (Gnome Press, 1953): Priority binding is blue boards lettered in brown. Avoid binding (D) — boards with cloth shelf back and DOUBLEDAY/SCIENCE/FICTION at the spine base — which indicates a later reissue rather than a true Gnome Press first.
Earth Is Room Enough (Doubleday, 1957): First edition so stated on copyright page.
The Collector's Reality
Gnome Press Asimov firsts in the priority binding with an intact, unrestored dust jacket are genuinely difficult to find in fine condition. Gnome's production quality was uneven — bindings fade, boards warp, and the oversized jackets chip at the head and foot of the spine in ways that are hard to reverse. Copies in very good or better condition with jackets are priced accordingly, and the spread between jacketed and unjacketed copies is wider here than almost anywhere else in Golden Age SF collecting.
For collectors building toward a complete Gnome Press Asimov run, Second Foundation in the priority blue boards tends to be the hardest to locate in collectible condition. I, Robot with an intact jacket is the most expensive. Foundation in the cloth binding with the three-title rear panel jacket is the most satisfying to find.
If you're evaluating a copy for purchase and want a second opinion on binding state or jacket attribution, we're glad to take a look. Send us photos of the spine, boards, copyright page, and both panels of the dust jacket — and we'll tell you what you have.
Browse our current Science Fiction & Fantasy inventory — or get in touch if you're hunting something specific.
Bibliographic details cross-referenced against L.W. Currey, Science Fiction and Fantasy Authors: A Bibliography of First Printings of Their Fiction and Selected Nonfiction (revised edition). Independent verification recommended before attribution of high-value copies.
