# Is "In the Best Families (UK: Even in the Best Families)" by Rex Stout a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of In the Best Families (UK: Even in the Best Families) by Rex Stout (Viking Press, 1950) is identified by: Viking Press, New York, 1950, first printing. The US Viking edition (1950) is the true first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Viking Press, New York, 1950, first printing
- Nero Wolfe novel concluding the Arnold Zeck trilogy (with And Be a Villain and The Second Confession)
- Bound in yellow cloth, collating 246 pages and measuring about 8 the printed price by 5 the printed price inches, issued in a pictorial dust jacket that should retain its printed price on an unclipped example
- Publisher imprint reads Viking Press
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Rex Stout |
| Publisher | Viking Press |
| Year | 1950 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Viking Press, New York, 1950, first printing |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
Viking Press, New York, 1950, first printing. Nero Wolfe novel concluding the Arnold Zeck trilogy (with And Be a Villain and The Second Confession). Bound in yellow cloth, collating 246 pages and measuring about 8 the printed price by 5 the printed price inches, issued in a pictorial dust jacket that should retain its printed price on an unclipped example.

## Is this the true first?
The US Viking edition (1950) is the true first. The UK Collins Crime Club edition, retitled Even in the Best Families, followed in 1951.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
The Viking first has a black title page dated '1950' and three extra copyright-page top lines (with the colophon and 'Printed in the USA by Colonial Printing Inc'); the book-club copy has a purple title page and no '1950'. No 'Book Club Edition' flap marking. (identification per rexstoutfirsts.com)

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *In the Best Families (UK: Even in the Best Families)* by Rex Stout a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/in-the-best-families-uk-even-in-the-best-families
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.