Slapstick, cover of the Delacorte Press/S. Lawrence, 1976 edition (the Jonathan Cape 1976 cover is not yet photographed)Delacorte Press/S. Lawrence, 1976 cover

Cover of the Delacorte Press/S. Lawrence, 1976 edition of this book. The Jonathan Cape 1976 jacket has not been photographed yet.

Hardback

Slapstick (1976)

Publisher Jonathan Cape Year 1976 ISBN 9780224013420

Identification points are listed only where two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 28 Oct 2026.

Market value

What decides the price

  • It is the first UK edition; the true first was published elsewhere.
  • The original dust jacket carries much of the price for a book of this age; its condition matters as much as the book's.
  • Condition is graded separately for book and jacket, from Fine down to Poor.

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Sales record

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In short

Quick answer

Who published the Slapstick 1976 hardback?
Jonathan Cape, London, in 1976, in hardback.
Identification

How to identify this edition

Jonathan Cape published the first British edition in London in 1976, the same year as the Delacorte Press first American edition. The Cape issue is a hardback of 243 pages, 23 cm, ISBN 0 224 01342 4, titled Slapstick, or Lonesome No More! Check the title page verso for the Cape imprint, the 1976 date and no later impression. The Panther paperback (1977) and the Dell paperback (1978) are later.

Publisher's practice

How Jonathan Cape marked its first editions

  • UK first editions name Jonathan Cape on the title page and carry a "First Published" statement with the year on the reverse of the title page. A first impression shows that statement with no later printings listed beneath it.
  • Live and Let Die (1954) exists in three jacket states on first-impression copies, told apart by whether and where the jacket designer's credit appears on the front flap.
  • Press reviews printed on the jacket flaps generally indicate a jacket from a later impression; on Casino Royale (1953) a Times review on the front flap marks a later run.

Read the full guide to Jonathan Cape first editions, decade by decade, and check your copy's copyright page against it. Our number line decoder reads the printing from the row of numbers.

Printing by printing

Printings and states

First impression

1976

At a glance

Not yet researched

We have not yet confirmed the issue points that tell this first impression from later ones. Until we do, compare your copy's title page and copyright page with the publisher, place and year above: any later printing or edition statement means it is not this one.

Know the points? Tell us. We publish them, with credit, once a second source agrees.

Notes

The cover image shows this book but may not be this edition or printing.

Questions collectors ask

Frequently asked questions

Who published the Slapstick 1976 hardback?

Jonathan Cape, London, in 1976, in hardback.

Sources

Where these facts come from

  • British National Bibliography, record GB7633509
  • Slapstick, or Lonesome No More! (London: J. Cape, 1976), CiNii Books (ci.nii.ac.jp)
  • Slapstick, or Lonesome No More, ISBN 9780224013420, AbeBooks (abebooks.co.uk)
  • Slapstick or Lonesome No More!, Worlds Without End (worldswithoutend.com)

Points of issue are listed only where at least two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 28 October 2026. Reviewed by Harriet Ellis; read how we check facts.