# Is "The League of Frightened Men" by Rex Stout a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The League of Frightened Men by Rex Stout (Farrar & Rinehart, 1935) is identified by: Farrar & Rinehart, 1935. US Farrar & Rinehart is the true first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Farrar & Rinehart, 1935
- The second Nero Wolfe novel and a Haycraft-Queen Cornerstone detective title, serialized in The Saturday Evening Post (June 15-July 20, 1935) as 'The Frightened Men' before book publication
- Identified by the F&R monogram colophon on the copyright page; absence of the device indicates a later printing
- Bound in black cloth, the front board and spine stamped in gold, the top edge stained light green, fore edge uncut, bottom edge rough-cut; collates pp. [i-iv][1-2]3-308
- The book is notoriously scarce in its original pictorial dust jacket, which should carry the printed price on the front flap; many copies offered today wear later facsimile jackets, so an original jacket is the key point to confirm
- Publisher imprint reads Farrar & Rinehart
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Rex Stout |
| Publisher | Farrar & Rinehart |
| Year | 1935 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Farrar & Rinehart, 1935 |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
Farrar & Rinehart, 1935. The second Nero Wolfe novel and a Haycraft-Queen Cornerstone detective title, serialized in The Saturday Evening Post (June 15-July 20, 1935) as 'The Frightened Men' before book publication. Identified by the F&R monogram colophon on the copyright page; absence of the device indicates a later printing. Bound in black cloth, the front board and spine stamped in gold, the top edge stained light green, fore edge uncut, bottom edge rough-cut; collates pp. [i-iv][1-2]3-308. The book is notoriously scarce in its original pictorial dust jacket, which should carry the printed price on the front flap; many copies offered today wear later facsimile jackets, so an original jacket is the key point to confirm.

## Is this the true first?
US Farrar & Rinehart is the true first. A UK Cassell edition followed later in 1935.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later printings and book-club issues lack the Farrar & Rinehart monogram colophon on the copyright page.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The League of Frightened Men* by Rex Stout a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-league-of-frightened-men
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.