Is My Palm Sunday: An Autobiographical Collage a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The trade first edition states 'First printing' on the copyright page and is bound in brown cloth with gilt titling, collating xviii, 330 pages
• The first-issue dust jacket carries the printed price on the front flap and the publication-date code 0381 (March 1981) on the rear flap, so an unclipped priced jacket is the desirable state
• Nonfiction autobiographical collage of essays, speeches, letters, reviews, a self-interview and one short story

How Delacorte Press / Seymour Lawrence marked a first edition

• "First printing" or "First Edition" stated on the copyright page, frequently paired with a number line ending in 1
• Vonnegut-era Delacorte / Seymour Lawrence books: look for an explicit "First printing" statement on the copyright page (e.g. Slaughterhouse-Five is a stated first printing)

Full Delacorte Press / Seymour Lawrence first-edition guide →

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. Confirm the first-edition statement — look for “First Edition,” “First Printing,” or the publisher’s equivalent wording.
3. Check for a number line or dated printing — the lowest number present is the printing; a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the tell.
4. Rule out a book-club edition — a blind-stamp on the rear board or a jacket with no printed price marks a book-club copy.
5. Photograph four things — the front cover, spine, title page, and copyright page — the standard record for identification.

The dust jacket

For a collectible first edition the dust jacket matters as much as the book. Confirm the jacket is present and unclipped — the printed price should still be at the corner of the flap (a clipped corner or a price-less flap can indicate a book-club issue). First-state jackets can differ from later ones in the cover art, blurbs, or review quotations; where a specific first-state jacket point is known for this title it is noted above.

Binding & format

Where multiple bindings exist, the hardcover trade issue is usually (but not always) the precedence copy — confirm against the points above. Later printings often show cheaper cloth, thinner boards, or simplified spine stamping. A simultaneous signed or limited issue, when one exists, is a distinct state from the trade first.

Is this the true first?

True first is the 1981 Delacorte Press / Seymour Lawrence trade edition. A simultaneous signed limited edition of 500 numbered copies also exists, identified by the copyright-page limitation statement reading in part 'THIS EDITION SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR IS LIMITED TO FIVE HUNDRED COPIES,' and issued in a cloth slipcase without a dust jacket as published.P-018234

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

None notable; identify the trade first by the stated 'First printing,' the brown cloth, and an unclipped jacket bearing the 0381 date code on the rear flap.P-018235

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Palm Sunday: An Autobiographical Collage a first edition?

A first edition of Palm Sunday: An Autobiographical Collage by Kurt Vonnegut (Delacorte Press / Seymour Lawrence) is identified by: The trade first edition states 'First printing' on the copyright page and is bound in brown cloth with gilt titling, collating xviii, 330 pages.

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. A stated first edition, a number line ending in 1, or a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the key. True first is the 1981 Delacorte Press / Seymour Lawrence trade edition.

Is the book-club edition the same as the first?

None notable; identify the trade first by the stated 'First printing,' the brown cloth, and an unclipped jacket bearing the 0381 date code on the rear flap.

I have a first edition of Palm Sunday: An Autobiographical Collage — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap — an unclipped, priced jacket matters. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and use the free First Edition Checker to decode the printing. To sell, the author’s collecting guide covers the market. And if you are clearing books in the Albuquerque area, the New Mexico Literacy Project offers free pickup, any condition, and makes sure collectible copies are identified rather than discarded.

Glossary

First edition

Every copy printed from the first setting of type. Collectors usually want the first edition, first printing (the true first).

First printing / impression

A single press run from that setting. The first printing is the earliest and most desirable; later printings are still the first edition but not the true first.

Number line (printer's key)

A row of numbers on the copyright page (e.g. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1). The lowest number present is the printing — a line including 1 marks a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2).

Points of issue

Specific physical details — a stated edition, a number line, a typo, a jacket state — that identify the true first printing.

Book-club edition (BCE)

A reprint made for a book club. Tells include a blind-stamped dot or square on the rear board and a dust jacket with no printed price. Not the true first.

First thus

The first appearance of a particular version (first paperback, first illustrated, first U.S. printing) — a first of that kind, not the first edition of the work.