# Is "Trouble in Triplicate" by Rex Stout a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Trouble in Triplicate by Rex Stout (Viking Press, 1949) is identified by: Viking Press, New York, 1949, first printing. US Viking edition is the true first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Viking Press, New York, 1949, first printing
- Nero Wolfe novella collection gathering three shorter works (Help Wanted, Male
- Before I Die
- Instead of Evidence)
- First-edition binding is yellow cloth with front cover and spine printed in red; issued in a pink, black and white dust wrapper
- Publisher imprint reads Viking Press
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Rex Stout |
| Publisher | Viking Press |
| Year | 1949 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Viking Press, New York, 1949, first printing |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
Viking Press, New York, 1949, first printing. Nero Wolfe novella collection gathering three shorter works (Help Wanted, Male; Before I Die; Instead of Evidence). First-edition binding is yellow cloth with front cover and spine printed in red; issued in a pink, black and white dust wrapper.

## Is this the true first?
US Viking edition is the true first. The UK edition followed later.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later collected in the Viking omnibus All Aces (1958); reprint editions follow.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Trouble in Triplicate* by Rex Stout a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/trouble-in-triplicate
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.