# Is "The Rubber Band" by Rex Stout a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Rubber Band by Rex Stout (Farrar & Rinehart, 1936) is identified by: Farrar & Rinehart, 1936, the third Nero Wolfe novel. US Farrar & Rinehart is the true first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Farrar & Rinehart, 1936, the third Nero Wolfe novel
- First printing is bound in turquoise cloth with the front cover and spine lettered in black and was issued in a full-color pictorial dust jacket
- The identifying point is the publisher's monogram device printed on the copyright page; the May 1936 second printing is otherwise identical but drops that monogram, so its absence indicates a later printing
- Publisher imprint reads Farrar & Rinehart
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Rex Stout |
| Publisher | Farrar & Rinehart |
| Year | 1936 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Farrar & Rinehart, 1936, the third Nero Wolfe novel |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
Farrar & Rinehart, 1936, the third Nero Wolfe novel. First printing is bound in turquoise cloth with the front cover and spine lettered in black and was issued in a full-color pictorial dust jacket. The identifying point is the publisher's monogram device printed on the copyright page; the May 1936 second printing is otherwise identical but drops that monogram, so its absence indicates a later printing.

## Is this the true first?
US Farrar & Rinehart is the true first. A UK Collins edition also appeared in 1936; the US Farrar & Rinehart printing (with the copyright-page monogram) is the first.

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

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Rubber Band* by Rex Stout a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-rubber-band
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.