Cat's Cradle, Signed by Kurt Vonnegut, Easton Press Limited Edition, 2013

Vonnegut, Kurt. Cat’s Cradle. Norwalk: The Easton Press, 2013. Illustrated by Dennis Lyall. Limited Edition, Number 392 of 500. Signed by Vonnegut on the limitation page. Large 8vo. Original pictorial blue leather stamped in black and gilt. Raised bands to spine, all edges gilt, and silk moiré endpapers. Presented with its original and matching pictorial slipcase.

Presented is a signed, limited edition printing of Kurt Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle. The book was published by Easton Press in 2013 in a limited edition of 500 copies, of which this is hand-numbered 392 of 500 on the limitation leaf. The book is signed and inscribed by Vonnegut on the limitation page, in blue felt-tipped ink pen. Beautifully bound, the book is presented in its original pictorial blue leather boards, stamped in black and gilt, with raised bands to the spine, silk moiré endpapers, and all edges gilt. The book is illustrated throughout by Dennis Lyall.

Cat’s Cradle was first published in 1963 by Holt, Rinehart & Winston and was Vonnegut’s fourth published novel. The  book explores and satirizes issues of science, technology, religion, and the arms race, written in Vonnegut’s whimsical yet biting specific brand of dark humor. A book that left an indelible mark on an entire generation of readers, Cat’s Cradle is one of the twentieth century’s most important works—and Vonnegut at his very best. Cat’s Cradle was chosen by Modern Library as one of the best 100 novels of the 20th century.

“Vonnegut’s 1963 novel might be slim but it fits in everything that’s best in his work: his science fiction-ish imagination…his deep reserves of humanity, his ability to temper irony with sentimentality, and his way with a fast quip. Clearly inspired by cold war fears – it was published the year after the Cuban missile crisis – this is a lively and deathly comedy, a pocket epic in which the world ends to the tune of the false religion of Bokononism. Along the way there are riffs on the gaps outside science, the uses of art, the value of other people and the importance of keeping going in the face of a world that can only make you ask: ‘My God – life! Who can understand even one little minute of it?’”(John Self, The Guardian, 2022). 

Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (1922–2007) emerged as a novelist and essayist in the 1960s and penned the classic books Cat's Cradle, Slaughterhouse-Five, and Breakfast of Champions before 1980. He is known for his satirical style and celebrated for the creative science-fiction elements found in his work. He blended literature with science fiction and humor and the absurd with pointed social commentary. Vonnegut is considered one of the most influential American novelists of the twentieth century. 

CONDITION:

Excellent condition. Limited Edition, Numbered 392 of 500 copies hand–numbered on limitation leaf and additional slip laid in. Signed by Vonnegut on the limitation page in blue felt-tipped ink. Signature very legible and without fading or smearing. Large 8vo. Original pictorial blue leather stamped in black and gilt. All edges gilt. Raised bands on spine, silk moiré endpapers, and silk page marking ribbon. Original matching pictorial slipcase, with embossing and gilt.