# Is "The Bigger They Come (UK: Lam to the Slaughter)" by A.A. Fair (Erle Stanley Gardner) a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Bigger They Come (UK: Lam to the Slaughter) by A.A. Fair (Erle Stanley Gardner) (William Morrow, 1939) is identified by: First published by William Morrow in 1939 under the A.A. The US William Morrow edition is the true first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First published by William Morrow in 1939 under the A.A. Fair pseudonym; the first Bertha Cool and Donald Lam novel
- Gardner's authorship behind the Fair name was not publicly acknowledged until after World War II, which adds to the collectibility of the pseudonymous first
- Identified by the Morrow imprint and first-issue dust jacket
- Publisher imprint reads William Morrow
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | A.A. Fair (Erle Stanley Gardner) |
| Publisher | William Morrow |
| Year | 1939 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First published by William Morrow in 1939 under the A.A. Fair pseudonym; the first Bertha… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First published by William Morrow in 1939 under the A.A. Fair pseudonym; the first Bertha Cool and Donald Lam novel. Gardner's authorship behind the Fair name was not publicly acknowledged until after World War II, which adds to the collectibility of the pseudonymous first. Identified by the Morrow imprint and first-issue dust jacket.

## Is this the true first?
The US William Morrow edition is the true first. Issued in the UK as 'Lam to the Slaughter'; first Cool and Lam novel under the Fair pseudonym.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later reprints appeared under Grosset & Dunlap and other reprint imprints; these are reprints, not first editions.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Bigger They Come (UK: Lam to the Slaughter)* by A.A. Fair (Erle Stanley Gardner) a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-bigger-they-come-uk-lam-to-the-slaughter
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-03.