Is My Foundation a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Dark blue cloth, red lettering on spine
• First-state dust jacket with its printed price with NO mention of the later Foundation sequels; rear panel lists Gnome Press titles only (no 'Foundation and Empire' or 'Second Foundation')
• Front flap has the famous misprint 'Hari Seldon.' Gnome address 80 East 11th Street, N.Y

How Gnome Press marked a first edition

• First editions generally STATE 'First Edition' on the copyright page — but this alone is NOT conclusive: in offset reprints Gnome sometimes left a prior publisher's 'First Edition' statement standing
• Confirm via binding measurements/bulk and priority dust-jacket points (rear-panel ad titles, jacket art state) documented title-by-title in the Gnome bibliography

Full Gnome Press first-edition guide →

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. Check for a number line or dated printing — the lowest number present is the printing; a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the tell.
3. Rule out a book-club edition — a blind-stamp on the rear board or a jacket with no printed price marks a book-club copy.
4. Photograph four things — the front cover, spine, title page, and copyright page — the standard record for identification.

The dust jacket

For a collectible first edition the dust jacket matters as much as the book. Confirm the jacket is present and unclipped — the printed price should still be at the corner of the flap (a clipped corner or a price-less flap can indicate a book-club issue). First-state jackets can differ from later ones in the cover art, blurbs, or review quotations; where a specific first-state jacket point is known for this title it is noted above.

Binding & format

Where multiple bindings exist, the hardcover trade issue is usually (but not always) the precedence copy — confirm against the points above. Later printings often show cheaper cloth, thinner boards, or simplified spine stamping. A simultaneous signed or limited issue, when one exists, is a distinct state from the trade first.

Is this the true first?

Gnome Press is the true first of the entire trilogy (Foundation 1951, Foundation and Empire 1952, Second Foundation 1953). No prior magazine appearance counts as a 'book' first; stories were fixed up from Astounding. Later-state jackets describe the sequels on the rear flap — these are still first printing sheets but second-state jackets, worth less than the true first-state jacket.P-012045

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

There was no contemporaneous US book-club edition of the Gnome printing; the danger is later-state jackets and the much later Doubleday omnibus. A jacket mentioning the sequels = second state. Doubleday reprints are clearly later publisher.P-012046

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Foundation a first edition?

A first edition of Foundation by Isaac Asimov (Gnome Press) is identified by: Dark blue cloth, red lettering on spine.

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. A stated first edition, a number line ending in 1, or a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the key. Gnome Press is the true first of the entire trilogy (Foundation 1951, Foundation and Empire 1952, Second Foundation 1953).

Is the book-club edition the same as the first?

There was no contemporaneous US book-club edition of the Gnome printing; the danger is later-state jackets and the much later Doubleday omnibus. A jacket mentioning the sequels = second state. Doubleday reprints are clearly later publisher.

I have a first edition of Foundation — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap — an unclipped, priced jacket matters. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and use the free First Edition Checker to decode the printing. To sell, the author’s collecting guide covers the market. And if you are clearing books in the Albuquerque area, the New Mexico Literacy Project offers free pickup, any condition, and makes sure collectible copies are identified rather than discarded.

Glossary

First edition

Every copy printed from the first setting of type. Collectors usually want the first edition, first printing (the true first).

First printing / impression

A single press run from that setting. The first printing is the earliest and most desirable; later printings are still the first edition but not the true first.

Number line (printer's key)

A row of numbers on the copyright page (e.g. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1). The lowest number present is the printing — a line including 1 marks a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2).

Points of issue

Specific physical details — a stated edition, a number line, a typo, a jacket state — that identify the true first printing.

Book-club edition (BCE)

A reprint made for a book club. Tells include a blind-stamped dot or square on the rear board and a dust jacket with no printed price. Not the true first.

First thus

The first appearance of a particular version (first paperback, first illustrated, first U.S. printing) — a first of that kind, not the first edition of the work.