The Silent Speaker - Publication History

Publication History

The first edition of The Silent Speaker marks the change from Stout's previous publisher, Farrar & Rinehart, to The Viking Press, which would remain his (first edition) publisher for the remainder of his writing career.

• 1946, New York: The Viking Press, October 21, 1946, hardcover

In his limited-edition pamphlet, Collecting Mystery Fiction #9, Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe Part I, Otto Penzler describes the first edition of The Silent Speaker: "Green cloth, front cover and spine printed with yellow lettering and red rules; rear cover blank. Issued in a mainly green and yellow pictorial dust wrapper."

In April 2006, Firsts: The Book Collector's Magazine estimated that the first edition of The Silent Speaker had a value of between $400 and $750. The estimate is for a copy in very good to fine condition in a like dustjacket.

• 1946, Toronto: Macmillan, 1946, hardcover
• 1946, New York: Detective Book Club #55, December 1946, hardcover
• 1947, New York: Armed Services Edition #1222, January 1947, paperback
• 1947, London: Collins Crime Club, March 10, 1947, hardcover
• 1948, New York: Bantam #308, October 1948, paperback
• London: Collins (White Circle) #215c, not dated, paperback
• 1956, London: Fontana #150, 1956, paperback
• 1994, New York: Bantam Crimeline ISBN 0-553-23497-8 February 1994, paperback, Rex Stout Library edition with introduction by Walter Mosley
• 2002, Auburn, California: The Audio Partners Publishing Corp., Mystery Masters ISBN 1-57270-270-2 May 2002, audio cassette (unabridged, read by Michael Prichard)
• 2009, New York: Bantam Dell Publishing Group (with Black Orchids) ISBN 978-0-553-38655-4 August 25, 2009, trade paperback
• 2011, New York: Bantam Crimeline ISBN 978-0-307-78389-9 February 16, 2011, e-book