For those that know Kurt Vonnegut is considered one of the finest writers of his generation, the late moderns of contemporary period. Although often considered to be no more than a literary oddball by contemporary critics, Vonnegut has since become known as one of the most important groundbreakers in literature, blurring the lines between traditional science fiction, psychological memoir and fairytale. His seminal works Cat's Cradle, Breakfast of Champions and of course Slaughterhouse 5 are considered to have opened up new forms of literature, using magical realism, fantasy and science fiction to investigate serious dilemmas of the human condition.
His work can accordingly reflect this prestige, and as such is still on the cusp of breaking into collectible greatness. If you are considering collecting Vonnegut, then the key things to look for would be authentic signatures, and/or his trademark doodles and caricatures that he took to using in his later artistic career.
A solid first edition, alongside a signature will easily fetch anything from the low hundreds to $500 dollars at auction, making Vonnegut especially exciting for the collector. A lot of his first editions are still available to find and to buy, and he is a big enough name that limited collectible editions are still being brought into the collectors market. There are limited editions of his most famous work Slaughterhouse 5 from publishers Easton, Delacourte and the Franklin Library all at around the $500 mark. These special presentation copies would have been printed for their special inclusion to private libraries or limited edition reprints for the anniversary of this book.
Vonnegut, Kurt. Player Piano. Charles Scribners Sons, New York (1952). First printing withA and Scribner seal on copyright page, 7600 copies printed; advance proof copy in wrappers(25 Copies)
Vonnegut, Kurt. Player Piano. MacMillan , London (1953). First British edition; 3000 copies were printed of which 1000 were apparently pulped.
Vonnegut, Kurt. The Sirens of Titan. Houghton Mifflin, Boston (1961). 2500 copies.
Vonnegut, Kurt. The Sirens of Titan. Gollancz, London (1962). First UK edition
Vonnegut, Kurt. Cat's Cradle. Holt Rinehart Winston, New York (1963). 6000 copies.
Vonnegut, Kurt. Cat's Cradle. Victor Gollancz, London (1963). First UK edition
Vonnegut, Kurt. God Bless You Mr. Rosewater or Pearls Before Swine.. Jonathan Cape, London (1965). First British edition
Vonnegut, Kurt. God Bless You Mr. Rosewater, or Pears Before Swine. Holt Rinehart and Winston, New York (1965). author's fifth novel; 6000 copies.
Vonnegut, Kurt. Mother Night. Harper and Row, New York (1966). 5500 copies;First Edition with correct code lettersC-Q on the copyright page.
Vonnegut, Kurt. You've Never Been to Barnstable?. Crane Duplicating Service, Barnstable (1966). following the 1964 original appearance in Venture Magazine. Issued here as a Christmas keepsake by the Crane Duplicating Service of Barnstable
Vonnegut, Kurt. Mother Night. Jonathan Cape, London (1968). First British edition
Vonnegut, Kurt. Welcome To The Monkey House. Delacorte Press, New York (1968). 5000 copies; collection of 25 short stories which includes:Harrison Bergeron,Welcome to the Monkey House,Miss Temptation,More Stately Mansions, andThe Hyannis Port Story among others.
Vonnegut, Kurt. Slaughterhouse-Five or The Children's Crusade. Delacorte Press, New York (1969). 10,000 copies; First Printing with the wordsFirst Printing printed on the copyright page.
Vonnegut, Kurt. Slaughterhouse-Five Or The Children's Crusade.. Jonathan Cape, London (1970). First British edition
Vonnegut, Kurt. Happy Birthday, Wanda June. Delacorte Press, New York (1971). $5.95 on the jacket
Vonnegut, Kurt. Between Time and Timbuktu or Prometheus-5. Delacorte, New York (1972). Illustrated with Photographs By Jill Krementz
Vonnegut, Kurt. Breakfast of Champions or Goodbye, Blue Monday.. Delacorte Press, New York (1973). Vonnegut describes the novel as afiftieth birthday present to myself in his introduction.
Vonnegut, Kurt. Happy Birthday, Wanda June. Cape, London (1973).
Vonnegut, Kurt. Wampeters, Foma and Granfalloons. Delacorte Press, New York (1974).
Vonnegut, Kurt. Slapstick or Lonesome No More!. Delacorte, New York (1976). 250 numbered copies
Vonnegut, Kurt. Slaughterhouse Five: Or the Children's Crusade. Franklin Library, Franklin Center (1978). Illustrated with drawings by Alan E. Cober
Vonnegut, Kurt. Jailbird. Delacorte Press, New York (1979). 500 Copies
Vonnegut, Kurt. Palm Sunday, An Autobiographical Collage. Delacorte Press, New York (1981). 500 Copies; first printing stated
Vonnegut, Kurt. Deadeye Dick. Delacorte Press, New York (1982). 350 copies; white dust jacket designed by James L. McGuire.
Vonnegut, Kurt. Fates Worse Than Death. Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation, Nottingham (1982). Foreword by Ken Coats
Vonnegut, Kurt. Galapagos. Delacorte Press, New York (1985). 500 copies.
Vonnegut, Kurt. Bluebeard. Delacorte Press, New York (1987). 500 copies.
Vonnegut, Kurt. Hocus Pocus. Putnam's, New York (1990). 250 copies.
Vonnegut, Kurt. Fates Worse Than Death : An Autobiographical Collage of the 1980's. Putnam's Sons, New York (1991). 200 numbered copies .
Vonnegut, Kurt. Slaughterhouse Five.. Delacorte Press, New York (1994). 110 numbered copies signed by Vonnegut and artists Michael Fallon(illustrator); Illustrated with four colored woodcuts by Michael Fallon.
Vonnegut, Kurt. Histoire du Soldat. Gonfalon Press (1997). 110 copies; four woodblock plates
Vonnegut, Kurt. Timequake. Putnam's Sons, New York (1997).
Vonnegut, Kurt. Slaughterhouse-Five. Easton Press, Norwalk (1998). Collector's edition
Vonnegut, Kurt. Bagombo Snuff Box. Easton Press, Norwalk (1999). 1700 copies.
Vonnegut, Kurt. God Bless You Dr. Kevorkian. Seven Stories Press, New York (1999).
Vonnegut, Kurt. Waterscapes, Landscapes. Glenn Horowitz, New York (1999). 100 copies signed by Gornik and Vonnegut, paintings by Gornik with introduction by Kurt Vonnegut.
Vonnegut, Kurt. A Man Without a Country. Seven Stories Press, New York (2005). 9 to 1 on the copyright page
Vonnegut, Kurt. Slaughterhouse Five. Easton, Norwalk, CT (2011). 8509 copies