| This dissertation reproduces Pebble in the Sky, the first novel by Isaac Asimov (1920--1992), with extensive textual annotation based on the drafts located in Boston University's Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center. The aim is to show its expansion from a novella to a novel, which took place over two years, from 1947 to 1949.;The base text used here is a first edition of Pebble in the Sky , published in 1950. The first draft dates from 1947, a typescript of about 49,000 words, with extensive corrections made by hand, and later additional material either handwritten on the verso pages of the draft or typed on new paper; the second is from 1949, a typescript of approximately 73,500 words, and is what Asimov submitted to Doubleday & Company for publication. I have recorded all textual variants between these drafts and the final published version, save only for evident typos and further small changes described in the introduction. The variants include significant addition, deletion, or revision of text, the lengthier of which are displayed in parallel-text format in the appendix.;The introduction provides a brief biography of Asimov leading up to the publication of this story, as well as a review of his early career, a fuller discussion of the drafts and the time-line of composition, and an explanation of my editorial principles and practice. In addition, although this dissertation concentrates on the text, I have included examples of contextual annotation as well, with particularly close attention to the scientific aspect---specifically, to the basis of the science presented by Asimov (a chemistry student at the time, later a professor of biochemistry), and to how it compares with present-day knowledge and theories. |
