# Is "Slapstick, or Lonesome No More!" by Kurt Vonnegut a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Slapstick, or Lonesome No More! by Kurt Vonnegut (Delacorte Press / Seymour Lawrence, 1976) is identified by: The trade first prints "First printing" (First Delacorte printing) on the copyright page and runs to 243 pages. True first is the 1976 Delacorte Press / Seymour Lawrence trade hardcover.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The trade first prints "First printing" (First Delacorte printing) on the copyright page and runs to 243 pages
- It is bound in dark blue cloth with a gilt facsimile Vonnegut signature and line design stamped bright on the front board, the spine lettered in red with gilt, and red endpapers
- The first-state dust jacket has a white ground with a color clown-face illustration on the front panel and a black-and-white photograph of Vonnegut in a suit on the rear panel; the jacket is priced on the front flap and the printed price should be present
- Publisher imprint reads Delacorte Press / Seymour Lawrence
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Kurt Vonnegut |
| Publisher | Delacorte Press / Seymour Lawrence |
| Year | 1976 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The trade first prints "First printing" (First Delacorte printing) on the copyright page and runs to 243 pages |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
The trade first prints "First printing" (First Delacorte printing) on the copyright page and runs to 243 pages. It is bound in dark blue cloth with a gilt facsimile Vonnegut signature and line design stamped bright on the front board, the spine lettered in red with gilt, and red endpapers. The first-state dust jacket has a white ground with a color clown-face illustration on the front panel and a black-and-white photograph of Vonnegut in a suit on the rear panel; the jacket is priced on the front flap and the printed price should be present.

## Is this the true first?
True first is the 1976 Delacorte Press / Seymour Lawrence trade hardcover. Two collectible parallel states followed roughly a month later: a Delacorte signed/numbered limited issue of 250 copies (slipcased, without jacket) and a Franklin Library full-leather "First Edition Society" issue with all edges gilt, silk endpapers, and a two-page introductory message from Vonnegut plus a commissioned portrait that appear in no other edition. Neither parallel state precedes the trade issue.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
The Book Club Edition is blind-stamped on the rear board and lacks the printed price on the front jacket flap; it is typically printed on thinner, lighter bulk. The trade first's jacket retains the printed front-flap price.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Slapstick, or Lonesome No More!* by Kurt Vonnegut a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/slapstick-or-lonesome-no-more
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.