First impression
1969At a glance
Points of issue
- copyright pagestatement reading First Printing→ first printing
- front jacket flapprice printed as $5.95→ first printing jacket
Slaughterhouse-FiveDelacorte Press
First edition
Hardback
Slaughterhouse-Five (1969)
Publisher Delacorte Press
Year 1969
Identification points are listed only where two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 20 Oct 2026.
Market value
What decides the price
- It is the first edition, which is the one collectors want.
- The first printing is told from later ones by 2 points of issue listed below.
- 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.
- Recorded sales
- 2
Price history
2 recorded sales
The full price history: every sale, the chart and values by condition.
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Quick answer
| Published | Delacorte Press, New York, 1969 |
|---|---|
| Spot it | Copyright page: statement reading First Printing |
| Also check | Front jacket flap: price printed as $5.95 |
| Binding | Hardback |
- How do I identify a Slaughterhouse-Five first edition?
- Check these points. Copyright page: statement reading First Printing. Front jacket flap: price printed as $5.95. Each point is confirmed by at least two independent sources.
- Who published the Slaughterhouse-Five first edition?
- Delacorte Press, New York, in 1969, in hardback.
How to identify this edition
Published by Delacorte Press as A Seymour Lawrence Book. The trade first is in blue cloth with the title in gilt on the spine, and its jacket shows $5.95 on the front flap. The words First Printing appear on the copyright page; a copy lacking them is a later printing. The Franklin Library issued a signed limited edition in leather in 1978; it is a later edition, not the first.
How Delacorte Press marked its first editions
Delacorte published American trade editions in cloth with dust jackets, so a Delacorte first printing is normally the true first edition of an American title. Dell itself was the paperback side of the business.
Read the full guide to Delacorte Press 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
Frequently asked questions
How do I identify a Slaughterhouse-Five first edition?
Check these points. Copyright page: statement reading First Printing. Front jacket flap: price printed as $5.95. Each point is confirmed by at least two independent sources.
Who published the Slaughterhouse-Five first edition?
Delacorte Press, New York, in 1969, in hardback.
Where these facts come from
- Kurt Vonnegut first edition books identification points, nocloo.com (nocloo.com)
- Slaughterhouse-Five, Bauman Rare Books (baumanrarebooks.com)
- Slaughterhouse-Five, Bauman Rare Books (baumanrarebooks.com)
- Slaughterhouse-Five signed first edition, Very Fine Books (veryfinebooks.com)
- Slaughterhouse-Five, The First Edition Rare Books (thefirstedition.com)
- Slaughterhouse-Five first edition 1969, rarebooks.ie (rarebooks.ie)
- Slaughterhouse-Five, Sotheby's (sothebys.com)
- Slaughterhouse-Five, The First Edition Rare Books (Franklin Library) (thefirstedition.com)
Points of issue are listed only where at least two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 20 October 2026. Reviewed by Harriet Ellis; read how we check facts.
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