UNKNOWN TRANSLATION OF ASIMOV IN SOVIET SAMIZDAT ROBOTS AND EMPIRE
1986Best.-Nr. 168Isaac Asimov - born in Soviet Russia in 1920 in the Smolensk region in a Jewish family. World famous science fiction writer author of about 500 works mostly fiction and popular science. Some terms from his works - robotics positronic psychohistory - have entered English and other languages. He is a multiple winner of the Hugo and Nebula awards. In the Anglo-American literary tradition Isaac Asimov together with Arthur C. Clarke and Robert Heinlein is considered to be one of the 'Big Three' science fiction writers. He was a very popular author in the Soviet Union. Perhaps the first work by Isaac Asimov published in the Soviet Union was the 1958 short story The Feeling of Power published translated by Zinaide Bobyr in two magazines at once: Nauka i Zhizn #11 and Iskatel in #6 of 1962. In 1964 for the first time in the USSR Isaac Asimov's solo collection a series of short stories I Robot translated by Alexey Jordan where the world-famous Three Laws of Robotics were formulated was published. In the 1960s Asimov was published extensively in Soviet journals. In 1966 the Library of Modern Fiction series published Isaac Asimov's novel The End of Eternity translated by Yuri Estrin. In the 1970s-80s other works by Asimov were published in magazines and in separate editions. However the Soviet publishing system was rather slow with each publication requiring a separate authorisation. Fiction fans could not wait for literary officials to make a decision to publish another work. Therefore underground translations of Western authors published in samizdat in typewritten copies and distributed privately began as early as the 1960s. This process became particularly active in the late 1970s and early 1980s when new copying technology became available. Translations were often unnamed for reasons of translator safety. Hundreds of works of Western fiction were translated in a short period of time. Then when in the late 1980s and early 1990s it became possible to print books of this kind in official printing houses some of the samizdat translations were printed. However not all of them! Therefore in the bibliography of Asimov's translations into Russian the first translation of 'Robots and Empire' is listed only in 2003! Thus the samizdat translation went unnoticed and is not listed anywhere. It survived in a small number of copies which did not end up in libraries and on the shelves of collectors. The translation is a photocopy from a typewritten copy 435 pages of text. In good condition. Rarity. Not available in libraries worldwide. Samizdat
M.B.Rare Books · Frankreich750,00 €
