# Is "Palm Sunday: An Autobiographical Collage" by Kurt Vonnegut a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Palm Sunday: An Autobiographical Collage by Kurt Vonnegut (Delacorte Press / Seymour Lawrence, 1981) 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. True first is the 1981 Delacorte Press / Seymour Lawrence trade edition.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- 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
- Publisher imprint reads Delacorte Press / Seymour Lawrence
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Kurt Vonnegut |
| Publisher | Delacorte Press / Seymour Lawrence |
| Year | 1981 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The trade first edition states 'First printing' on the copyright page and is bound in brown cloth with gilt titling, collating xviii, 330… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## 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.

## 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.

## 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.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Palm Sunday: An Autobiographical Collage* by Kurt Vonnegut a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/palm-sunday-an-autobiographical-collage
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.