The Foundation Trilogy by Asimov, Isaac - 1951,52,53: Foundation, Foundation and Empire, and Second Foundation Winner of the Hugo Award for “Best All-Time Series” in 1966

New York: Gnome Press, 1951, 1952 & 1953. First Editions. First Printings, First Issue. Three octavo volumes. 255, [256: blank]; [2: blank], 247, [248-254: blank]; [x], 210, [211-214: blank] pages. A near fine+ three-volume set with the original first state dust jackets also in near fine+ condition. Two dust jackets have the publisher's $2.75 printed price present with very minor wear to the edges although Volume I dust jacket is price clipped. Volume I dust jacket is the rare first issue with the main character throughout the series name misspelled on the front dust jacket flap. The three volumes and their respective dust jackets are in unusually well-preserved condition -- no fading to spines of books or dust jackets. Bindings are tight, pages are clean and no prior ownership names, markings or bookplates in any of the books with the exception of the association signature on the title page in Volume I. A beautiful set of Asimov's Foundation trilogy, winner of the Hugo Award for "Best All-Time Series" in 1966. This unique association copy is signed and inscribed by David Kyle, who designed the dust jacket for Volume I, Foundation, to renowned science fiction illustrator Stephen E. Fabian. Fabian was a recipient of the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement in 2006. He has also been a two-time nominee for the Hugo Award for Best Fan Artist (1970 and 1971), and a seven-time nominee for the Hugo Award for Best Professional Artist (1975–1981).

The story begins with mathematician Hari Seldon who conceived his theory of psychohistory, a method of predicting the future along mass social change in humanity, a new and effective mathematical sociology. Using statistical laws of mass action, it could predict the future of large populations. Seldon foresees the imminent fall of the Empire, which encompasses the entire Milky Way, and a dark age lasting 30,000 years before a second empire arises. Although the inertia of the Empire's fall is too great to stop, Seldon devises a plan by which "the onrushing mass of events must be deflected just a little" to eventually limit this interregnum to just one thousand years. To implement his plan, Seldon creates the Foundations – two groups of scientists and engineers settled at opposite ends of the galaxy – to preserve the spirit of science and civilization, and thus become the cornerstones of the new galactic empire. A key feature of Seldon's theory, which has proved influential in real-world social science, is an uncertainty or incompleteness principle: if a population gains knowledge of its predicted behavior, its self-aware collective actions become unpredictable.