# Is "The Silent Speaker" by Rex Stout a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Silent Speaker by Rex Stout (Viking Press, 1946) is identified by: The Viking Press, New York, 1946, first printing. US Viking 1946 is the true first edition.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The Viking Press, New York, 1946, first printing
- Marks Stout's move from Farrar & Rinehart to Viking, which remained his first-edition publisher thereafter; the first full-length Nero Wolfe novel since before US entry into WWII. First printing bears no later-printing notation on the copyright page
- Publisher imprint reads Viking Press
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Rex Stout |
| Publisher | Viking Press |
| Year | 1946 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The Viking Press, New York, 1946, first printing |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
The Viking Press, New York, 1946, first printing. Marks Stout's move from Farrar & Rinehart to Viking, which remained his first-edition publisher thereafter; the first full-length Nero Wolfe novel since before US entry into WWII. First printing bears no later-printing notation on the copyright page.

## Is this the true first?
US Viking 1946 is the true first edition.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Book-club and later printings follow.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Silent Speaker* by Rex Stout a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-silent-speaker
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.