The Last Question by Isaac Asimov - NO REPLY PRESS 2022

The Last Question by Isaac Asimov - NO REPLY PRESS LIMITED EDITION 2022

A PICTORIAL REVIEW

No. 112 of 350 copies
Ten woodcuts by Rockwell Kent including a double page spread.
Printed letterpress on mouldmade German Zerkall-bütten paper.
Experimental typography featuring four typefaces.
Type interweaves and overlaps with woodcuts by Rockwell Kent.
Deckled outer and lower page edges.
Hand bradel bound in blue monoprint boards (each a unique work of art) over a dark blue Japanese cloth spine with mirrorfoil tooling.
Monoprint artwork spanning covers.
Dark blue acrylic slipcase.
28.2x17.5cm.
32 pages
US$295

















































An index of the other illustrated reviews in the this series can be viewed here.

I’m so happy to have purchased this science fiction trilogy. All three books are stunning, some of the nicest in my collection!

>1 wcarter: The Last Question woodcuts look very stylish. I have purchased this book and The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas. Once they arrive, if I fall in love with them I can see if The Men Return is still available. The story didn't appeal to me as much.

I first read this story long ago, in the pages of Opus 100, a collection of Asimov's stories published in 1969. It tickled my fancy then, and I am pleased to have this edition of it gracing my shelves. It is a masterpiece even if flawed by that glaring typo.....

You should own this book.

For those wondering about "that glaring typo" mentioned by >4 Glacierman:, the following was loosely inserted in the book.

For me, Asimov's best. I don't think I'm entirely alone in that assessment. Unfortunately my budget only stretched to one of No Reply's sci-fi trilogy, so it's not in my library. Maybe someday!

>5 wcarter: I won't point it out, either!

Read this story for first time last week, thought it was excellent and the edition was superbly crafted.

>7 Glacierman: There's actually a second typo in the book -- I'll keep mum about it too. ;-)

It's interesting how "basic" understanding of science has changed over the decades. Asimov notes in the story that space became black after 10 trillion years. Today, an astronomy 101 student learns (well hopefully learns) that some stars can shine for over 10 trillion years! Anyway, it's amusing :)

>10 astropi: We still have so very far to go in physics and cosmology. In spite of all our strides, we still suffer from the situation of someone who has lived all their life in a bus station and can only picture the world outside as being just more bus station.

>11 Shadekeep: We certainly have a lot to learn and discover, but I think we shouldn't underestimate what we know and what we are learning. A few hundred years ago it was accepted that we were in the center of the Universe. Then Copernicus said "maybe not". Today, we know we're not in the center of the Solar System, our Solar System is not in the center of the galaxy, our galaxy is not in the center of the Universe...heck, there does not appear to be a center to the Universe! Still don't know what dark matter is, but we know there are trillions of planets in our own Milky Way, and billions of galaxies out there. Sometimes, it amazes me what we do actually know :)

>12 astropi: Oh certainly we have come far. And we've developed many tools to perceive for us beyond the limits of our senses. I just think it's also useful for us to realise that a lot of our ideas and theories are still predicated on a comparatively small subset of what there is to know. It seems we almost daily discover something that forces us to reevaluate what we think we knew. In a way it's nice that so much discovery still awaits us.