Conditions Governing Use

Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. For more information, please see the Permissions and Copyright page on the West Virginia and Regional History Center website.

Conditions Governing Access

No special access restriction applies.

Preferred Citation

[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Isaac Asimov, Editor, Publications, A&M 4521, West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University Libraries, Morgantown, West Virginia.

Biographical / Historical

Isaac Asimov, 1920-1992:

Personal Life and Education: Isaac Asimov was born in Russia in 1920 and immigrated to the United States with his family when he was three. Asimov grew up in New York City and attended public schools, then earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry at Columbia University. He applied to all five NYC medical schools and was rejected by all of them. He instead applied for the master's degree program in chemistry at Columbia, and was rejected again, but convinced the department to let him pursue his studies on probationary status, and finished his master's degree in 1941. He spent the next four years in the army. After being honorably discharged he returned to his studies, and finished his Ph.D in chemistry at Columbia in 1948. He spent a year in a post-doctoral position at Columbia researching compounds to fight malaria, then accepted a faculty position at Boston University. He stopped teaching and gave up his salary in 1958 to write full-time. Boston University elevated him to the rank of full professor in 1979. He died in 1992 at the age of 72.

Works: Asimov wrote more than 400 books, spread across numerous fiction and non-fiction genres. He is best known for his science fiction, particularly I, Robot and The Foundation Trilogy. He is considered one of the most influential science fiction writers of the 20th century, having contributed significantly to advancing the genre both in popularity and in literary prestige. He incorporated into his science fiction elements drawn from history, mathematics, sociology, and other sciences. Asimov's works also include mysteries, books on science written for general audiences, and works on classical literature, among numerous other subjects. He also wrote hundreds of articles and columns for the magazines Fantasy and Science Fiction and Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction.

Source: Adapted from"C250 Celebrates Columbians Ahead of their Time" (accessed in 2019) c250.columbia.edu/c250_celebrates/remarkable_columbians/Isaac_asimov.html

--

History of "Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine":

The magazine was founded in 1977 as "Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine", following the example of contemporary magazines like "Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine" and "Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine" by naming the magazine after a major figure in the field. Asimov founded the magazine with Joel Davis of Davis Publications at Davis' suggestion. Asimov himself refused the role of editor, but answered fan letters and contributed editorials as editorial director. In 1992 the magazine was sold to Bantam Doubleday Dell, and the title changed to "Asimov's Science Fiction". In 1996 Dell Magazines, the division of Bantam Doubleday publishing "Asimov's Science Fiction", was acquired by Crosstown Publications, and since then the magazine has been published by their partner, Penny Publications. As of 2019 the magazine has had five editors over its lifetime: George H. Scithers from 1977-1982, who was also editor for "Amazing Stories" and "Weird Tales"; Kathleen Moloney from 1982 to 1983, serving as interim editor; Shawna McCarthy from 1983 to 1985, who was also editor for "Realms of Fantasy" and several anthologies; Gardner Dozois from 1986 to 2004, who won 15 Hugo awards as editor; and Sheila Williams from 2004 to the present (as of 2019), who also edited the Isaac Asimov's anthology series. The magazine has published works by more than fifty famous authors, including Isaac Asimov himself, Octavia Butler, Pat Cadigan, Orson Scott Card, Arthur C. Clarke, Glenn Cook, Harlan Ellison, Joe Haldeman, Ursula K. Le Guin, George R. R. Martin, Frederick Pohl, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, S. P. Somtow, Karen Traviss, Harry Turtledove, Kate Wilhelm, and Connie Willis.

--

Title Changes

Vol. 1 (1977)-10 (1986) Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine (ISSN: 1062-2188). Published quarterly in 1977, bimonthly in 1978, and thereafter monthly beginning in 1979.

Vol. 11 (1987)-14 (1990) Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction (ISSN: 1045-6414)

Vol. 15 (1991)-16, no. 11 (Oct. 1992) Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine (ISSN: 1055-2146)

Vol. 16, no. 12 (Nov. 1992)- Asimov's Science Fiction (ISSN:1065-2698)

*Title changes with dates and ISSN numbers found in Ulrich's Web Global Serials Directory

Scope and Contents

This collection includes 205 issues of "Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine" and other publications edited by Isaac Asimov. "Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine", later re-named "Asimov's Science Fiction", comprises the majority of the collection. Publication started in 1977; this collection includes a nearly complete run of issues through 1993, then scattered issues 1994-2008. There are also three issues of "Asimov's SF Adventure Magazine" (1978-1979) and one issue of "The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction" (1996).

Items in this collection are from the collections of Carlos Patterson and Larry Shaver.

For additional material related to Isaac Asimov from the same collectors, see A&M 3515, Carlos Patterson, Collector, Isaac Asimov Collectibles and A&M 3441 Larry Shaver, Collector, Isaac Asimov Collectibles. For additional issues of "Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine", see A&M 4473 Jack Stewart, Collector, Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Science fiction -- Periodicals