Slaughterhouse-Five or The Children's Crusade by Vonnegut, Kurt, Jr - 1969: A Duty-Dance with Death

New York: Delacorte Press, 1969. First Edition, First Printing (stated on copyright page). Hardcover. Octavo. 8.5 x 5.75 inches. 186 pp. Very Good / Good+. Publisher's turquoise cloth over board, with author's facsimile signature stamped in gilt to front board. Spine stamped in gilt, metallic red, and black. Black endpapers. Unclipped first issue dust jacket designed by Paul Bacon, lettered in black, red, and blue, with photo by Bossi of Vonnegut on rear panel. Shows $5.95 and 8021 on front flap and date code 0369 at bottom of back flap. Turquoise cloth bright and clean with very light fading to edges. Facsimile signature stamped to front board sharp and bright. Stamping to spine bright and unrubbed with exception of wear to black publisher's mark near heel. Tips sharp. Touch of softening to cloth at heel of spine. Binding tight with slight lean. Black end papers unfaded and clean with pale smudge at leading edge of front free endpaper. Text block unmarked, clean, and tight throughout. Dust jacket darkened overall, particularly on spine, with soiling and stains. Edge-worn with wear to folds and chipping to head and tail of spine. Black, red, and blue elements unfaded. Dust jacket now in protective archival sleeve. Vonnegut's most celebrated work. The semi-autobiographical masterpiece ranks at #18 on the Modern Library 100 Best Books of the 20th Century. Only 10,000 copies printed, increasingly scarce in dust jacket.