# Is "Player Piano" by Kurt Vonnegut a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Player Piano by Kurt Vonnegut (Charles Scribner's Sons, 1952) is identified by: Vonnegut's first novel and first book. US Scribner's true first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Vonnegut's first novel and first book
- The Scribner capital 'A' together with the Scribner seal/colophon on the copyright page denotes the first printing
- First printing was 7,600 copies
- First-issue jacket carries the printed price on the front flap
- Publisher imprint reads Charles Scribner's Sons
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Kurt Vonnegut |
| Publisher | Charles Scribner's Sons |
| Year | 1952 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Vonnegut's first novel and first book |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
Vonnegut's first novel and first book. The Scribner capital 'A' together with the Scribner seal/colophon on the copyright page denotes the first printing. First printing was 7,600 copies. First-issue jacket carries the printed price on the front flap.

## Is this the true first?
US Scribner's true first. It precedes the UK Macmillan & Co. (London) edition of 1953, which retained the title 'Player Piano' (not a retitle). The retitled 'Utopia 14' was a later Bantam paperback reprint of 1954 marketed to science-fiction readers, not a hardcover first and not the UK edition.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
The 1954 Bantam paperback 'Utopia 14' is a separate, later mass-market reprint state, not a first edition. A genuine Scribner first must show both the 'A' and the seal on the copyright page; later Scribner printings drop the 'A'.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Player Piano* by Kurt Vonnegut a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/player-piano
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.