# Is "Bagombo Snuff Box: Uncollected Short Fiction" by Kurt Vonnegut a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Bagombo Snuff Box: Uncollected Short Fiction by Kurt Vonnegut (G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1999) is identified by: First trade edition identified by the number line '3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2' on the copyright page; G. True first is the 1999 G.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First trade edition identified by the number line '3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2' on the copyright page
- G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 1999
- Bound in black cloth over white boards, spine stamped in green, and issued in a priced, unclipped pictorial dust jacket
- Collects twenty-three previously uncollected magazine stories written between 1950 and 1963
- Publisher imprint reads G. P. Putnam's Sons
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Kurt Vonnegut |
| Publisher | G. P. Putnam's Sons |
| Year | 1999 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First trade edition identified by the number line '3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2' on the copyright page |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
First trade edition identified by the number line '3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2' on the copyright page; G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 1999. Bound in black cloth over white boards, spine stamped in green, and issued in a priced, unclipped pictorial dust jacket. Collects twenty-three previously uncollected magazine stories written between 1950 and 1963.

## Is this the true first?
True first is the 1999 G. P. Putnam's Sons (New York) trade edition with the '3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2' number line. A UK edition followed from Jonathan Cape, 1999. Signed and numbered limited states were also produced but do not precede the trade first.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
None notable. The first-printing point is the specific '3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2' number line together with the green-stamped black-cloth-over-white-boards binding and priced jacket.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Bagombo Snuff Box: Uncollected Short Fiction* by Kurt Vonnegut a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/bagombo-snuff-box-uncollected-short-fiction
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.