Nice Asimov Letter About a Spoken-Word Record
Typed Letter, Signed, (TLS) about a Foundation Spoken Word Record
Publication: New York: 1976.
Notes: A short, one-page letter to Ward Botsford, a producer at Caedmon Records, transmitting the liner notes for the album, "The Mayors from Foundation Read by the Author" (Caedmon TC 1527, 1977).
Asimov writes that he is delivering the text (not present) ahead of schedule and then concludes by reminding Botsford to send his payment, "I hope it's suitable for what you want, and if it is, then you owe me $200. Right?"
Asimov was never shy about asking people to pay what they owed him. This letter was written near the lowest ebb of his science fiction career, with this job paying just 25 cents per word. He had just published Bicentennial Man, which would win both the Hugo and the Nebula awards in coming months, beginning a remarkable second period of success, where his Foundation and I, Robot sequels regularly landed on the bestseller lists in the 1980s and 1990s, thirty years after the original books changed SF forever.
About 50 words on 5-3/4 by 6-7/8 letterhead.
Edition + Condition: Folded once for mailing; staple holes at the top, presumably where the typescript was once attached. Signed "Isaac."
Item No: #366324
Price: $200