# Is "Death of a Doxy" by Rex Stout a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Death of a Doxy by Rex Stout (Viking Press, 1966) is identified by: First edition published by The Viking Press, New York, 1966. Stout was American and the book appeared first in the US; the Viking Press edition is the true first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition published by The Viking Press, New York, 1966
- Quarter grey cloth over yellow paper boards with navy spine lettering, in the publisher's pictorial dust jacket illustrated by William English, which has a die-cut circular hole revealing part of the cover design and carries the printed price on the front flap
- A Nero Wolfe novel
- Publisher imprint reads Viking Press
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Rex Stout |
| Publisher | Viking Press |
| Year | 1966 |
| True first | American edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition published by The Viking Press, New York, 1966 |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
First edition published by The Viking Press, New York, 1966. Quarter grey cloth over yellow paper boards with navy spine lettering, in the publisher's pictorial dust jacket illustrated by William English, which has a die-cut circular hole revealing part of the cover design and carries the printed price on the front flap. A Nero Wolfe novel.

## Is this the true first?
Stout was American and the book appeared first in the US; the Viking Press edition is the true first.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Cover color is the tell: the Viking first is yellow with blue pie-section wedges (gray spine, blue lettering) and prints 'DOXY' white-on-black on the title page, while the book-club copy is black and reverses 'DOXY' to black-on-white. No 'Book Club Edition' flap marking. (identification per rexstoutfirsts.com)

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Death of a Doxy* by Rex Stout a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/death-of-a-doxy
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.