Foundation was published by Gnome Press in 1951, collecting four stories originally published in Astounding Science Fiction between 1942 and 1944, plus a new introductory section. The premise, which Asimov drew from Edward Gibbon’s History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, was audacious: Hari Seldon, a mathematician on the imperial capital world of Trantor, has developed “psychohistory” — a mathematical science that can predict the behavior of large populations with statistical precision. Psychohistory reveals that the Galactic Empire, which has governed the galaxy for twelve thousand years, will fall within five centuries, followed by thirty thousand years of barbarism.
Seldon cannot prevent the fall, but he can shorten the dark age to a single millennium. He establishes two Foundations at opposite ends of the galaxy — repositories of knowledge and centers of strategic action — that will guide humanity through the interregnum and toward a new, better empire.
The novel proceeds in a series of linked episodes, each set decades apart, each depicting a “Seldon Crisis” — a historical turning point that the Foundation must navigate correctly. The first crises are political and military; the later ones are economic and commercial. Asimov’s insight was that in a galaxy where atomic technology exists, the real power lies not in military force but in trade, technological monopoly, and institutional credibility.
Foundation won the special Hugo Award for “Best All-Time Series” in 1966, beating The Lord of the Rings. Its influence on science fiction, on futurism, and on the popular understanding of historical cycles has been immense. Elon Musk, Paul Krugman, and Newt Gingrich have all cited the series as formative.
Collecting Foundation
First edition (Gnome Press, New York, 1951): Blue cloth boards with dust jacket.
Market values:
- First edition, fine in dust jacket: $5,000–$15,000
- First edition, very good in jacket: $2,000–$5,000
- First edition without jacket: $300–$800
- Book club edition: $20–$50
- Later Avon paperback: $5–$15
Gnome Press first editions are identified by the lack of printing line numbers and the presence of the Gnome Press colophon. The dust jacket, with its distinctive science fiction illustration, is essential for maximum value. Without the jacket, even fine copies lose most of their premium.
People Also Ask
What is the Foundation series about? The series follows the rise and fall of civilizations across a galaxy-spanning future, centered on Hari Seldon’s plan to use mathematical prediction (psychohistory) to shorten a coming dark age from 30,000 years to 1,000 years.
What order should I read the Foundation books? Publication order is recommended: Foundation (1951), Foundation and Empire (1952), Second Foundation (1953), then the later sequels Foundation’s Edge (1982) and Foundation and Earth (1986), and the prequels Prelude to Foundation (1988) and Forward the Foundation (1993).
Is Foundation hard to read? The prose is clear and accessible — Asimov prized clarity above all else — but the structure (linked novellas spanning centuries, with different characters in each section) can be disorienting for readers expecting a conventional novel with a single protagonist.