How to identify a first printing
- "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)
Notable points & cautions
- Hardcover home of many Kurt Vonnegut firsts, published as Delacorte Press / Seymour Lawrence — a high-value collecting area
- Within the Random House Publishing Group, part of Penguin Random House
Imprints
First editions also appear under: Delacorte, Delacorte Press/Seymour Lawrence (co-imprint on Vonnegut-era titles). Each generally follows the house convention above.
Frequently asked questions
How do I know if my Delacorte Press book is a first edition?
Check the copyright page. "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)
Does Delacorte Press use a number line?
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)
Is a book-club edition a Delacorte Press first edition?
No. Book-club editions reprint the text but are not the true first edition. Hardcover home of many Kurt Vonnegut firsts, published as Delacorte Press / Seymour Lawrence — a high-value collecting area
What era does this cover?
This covers Delacorte Press (1921–present). Conventions changed over time, so confirm the era of your copy.
Delacorte Press titles with documented first-edition points
Each link opens that title’s specific points of issue — the exact marks that separate a true first printing from a later one.
- 61 Hours (Lee Child, 2010)
- A Breath of Snow and Ashes (Diana Gabaldon, 2005)
- A Dangerous Fortune (Ken Follett, 1993)
- A Wanted Man (Lee Child, 2012)
- An Echo in the Bone (Diana Gabaldon, 2009)
- Bad Luck and Trouble (Lee Child, 2007)
- Beggarman, Thief (Irwin Shaw, 1977)
- Better Off Dead (Lee Child and Andrew Child, 2021)
- Between Time and Timbuktu, or Prometheus-5 (Kurt Vonnegut, 1972)
- Blue Moon (Lee Child, 2019)
- Bluebeard (Kurt Vonnegut, 1987)
- Bread Upon the Waters (Irwin Shaw, 1981)
- Breakfast of Champions (Kurt Vonnegut, 1973)
- Bud, Not Buddy (Christopher Paul Curtis, 1999)
- Deadeye Dick (Kurt Vonnegut, 1982)
- Dispatches — deeper Vietnam: Tim O'Brien, If I Die in a Combat Zone, Box Me Up and Ship Me Home (memoir) (Tim O'Brien, 1973)
- Dragonfly in Amber (Diana Gabaldon, 1992)
- Dreaming of Babylon: A Private Eye Novel 1942 (Richard Brautigan, 1977)
- Drums of Autumn (Diana Gabaldon, 1997)
- Evening in Byzantium (Irwin Shaw, 1973)
- Fifty-Two Pickup (Elmore Leonard, 1974)
- Galápagos (Kurt Vonnegut, 1985)
- Get Shorty (Elmore Leonard, 1990)
Documenting 84 Delacorte Press titles in all — browse the full title-by-title library →