# Is "Calamity Town" by Ellery Queen a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Calamity Town by Ellery Queen (Little, Brown and Company, 1942) is identified by: The first printing carries an explicit 'FIRST EDITION' statement on the copyright page — independently reported by multiple dealers cataloguing copies in hand ('Stated first edition'; 'First edition stated'; 'States First Edition'). The US edition — Little, Brown and Company, Boston, 1942 — is the true first, and Wikipedia's infobox gives the publication place as the United States.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The first printing carries an explicit 'FIRST EDITION' statement on the copyright page — independently reported by multiple dealers cataloguing copies in hand ('Stated first edition'; 'First edition stated'; 'States First Edition')
- This matches Little, Brown's documented 1940s practice, when the firm moved from the 1930s 'Published (Month) (Year)' formula to a stated 'First Edition' or 'First Printing,' with later printings normally indicated; the absence of the statement therefore signals a later printing
- Binding is orange cloth lettered in green on the front cover and spine, collating 318 pp., 21 cm
- The first-issue jacket should be a priced jacket with the price present at the flap; price-clipped jackets are common on surviving copies
- Publisher imprint reads Little, Brown and Company
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Ellery Queen |
| Publisher | Little, Brown and Company |
| Year | 1942 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The first printing carries an explicit 'FIRST EDITION' statement on the copyright page — independently reported by multiple dealers… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
The first printing carries an explicit 'FIRST EDITION' statement on the copyright page — independently reported by multiple dealers cataloguing copies in hand ('Stated first edition'; 'First edition stated'; 'States First Edition'). This matches Little, Brown's documented 1940s practice, when the firm moved from the 1930s 'Published (Month) (Year)' formula to a stated 'First Edition' or 'First Printing,' with later printings normally indicated; the absence of the statement therefore signals a later printing. Binding is orange cloth lettered in green on the front cover and spine, collating 318 pp., 21 cm. The first-issue jacket should be a priced jacket with the price present at the flap; price-clipped jackets are common on surviving copies.

## Is this the true first?
The US edition — Little, Brown and Company, Boston, 1942 — is the true first, and Wikipedia's infobox gives the publication place as the United States. The UK edition is Victor Gollancz, London, 1942 (confirmed by dealer listings), and is collected separately as the first English edition; Gollancz firsts of this date carry no edition statement, with later impressions noted on the verso. Do not confuse the Gollancz first with the Gollancz 'First Cheap Edition' of 1948 or its 1949 second printing, both of which are documented later issues. This is the first Wrightsville novel.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Copies lacking the stated 'First Edition' on the copyright page are later Little, Brown printings. The Gollancz 1948 'First Cheap Edition' (and its 1949 reprint) is a reprint despite the word 'First' in the designation — a first-thus trap. No US book-club issue was documented in the sources consulted.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Calamity Town* by Ellery Queen a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/calamity-town
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.