The Worlds Of Isaac Asimov. Complete collection, 12 volumes + additional volume.

The Worlds Of Isaac Asimov. Complete collection, 12 volumes + additional volume.
Polaris publishing house, 1993-1994. Hardcover, size 13.5 x 20.5 cm. The collection is in good complete condition.

In 1993, the Riga publishing house "Polaris" published the first volume of a new collection of works - " the Worlds of Isaac Asimov. The complete collection of fantastic works" - and announced a subscription to the remaining volumes. The output of the first volume was billed as "book the eleventh".

The sequel, however, came with great delay. The publishing house went silent for a year and a half, after which, during the two autumn months of 1994, it released "the Worlds of Isaac Asimov: In twelve books " — all 12 volumes, but in a slightly different design. The reasons for this remained unknown – only it was reported that the previously released volume can be considered as an addition to the main collection of works. Most likely, this situation was the result of the 1993-94 crisis (which led, in particular, to the almost complete disappearance of the practice of subscription publications in Russia) and the subsequent confusion.

Nothing can be said about the original idea, which existed in 1993, but the 12-volume 1994 book was clearly not intended as a complete collection of works. It omits many of Asimov's works and cycles, such as the entire lucky Starr series (although previously published by Polaris in the Masters of fiction series, volume 5/1 and volume 5/2). Apparently, the main task of the compiler was to collect as fully as possible the megacycle "galactic history", although some volumes are clearly out of this plan.

In 1996-97, this series was continued — "the New worlds of Isaac Asimov", which included collections of short stories and novels by the author, as well as two later novels.

Almost all the books (except the 7th one) published in 1994 were printed with the participation of the Folio publishing house (Kharkiv).

On the spine of each book is the volume number, and the additional volume has the publisher's mark in this place. 

The series was compiled by V. Bystrov. Artistic design of the series By M. Zakharenkov.