Agatha Christie | First Editions
1890 - 1976
Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, DBE (née Miller; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English crime novelist, short story writer and playwright. She also wrote six romances under the name Mary Westmacott; however, Christie is best known for the 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections that she wrote under her own name, most of which revolve around the investigative work of such characters as Hercule Poirot, Jane Marple, Parker Pyne, Ariadne Oliver, Harley Quin/Mr Satterthwaite and Tommy and Tuppence Beresford. Christie also wrote the world's longest-running play, a murder mystery entitled The Mousetrap. In 1971, she was made a Dame for her immense contribution to literature.
Christie was initially unsuccessful in getting her work published, but in 1920 The Bodley Head press published her novel The Mysterious Affair at Styles, featuring the character of Hercule Poirot. This launched her literary career. Today, the Guinness Book of World Records lists Christie as the best-selling novelist of all time. Her novels have sold roughly 2 billion copies worldwide, and her estate claims that her works come third in the rankings of the world's most-widely published books (behind Shakespeare's works and the Bible). Christie remains the world's most-translated individual author – having been translated into at least 103 languages. And Then There Were None is Christie's best-selling novel, with 100 million sales to date, making it the world's best-selling mystery ever. Nearly all of Christie's books and short stories have been adapted for television, radio, video games and comics, and more than thirty feature films have been based on her work.
See below our stock of Agatha Christie First Editions, fine bindings, sets, and signed copies.
Agatha Christie
Crooked House.
London: Published for the Crime Club by Collins, 1949. [Detective Mystery] LEATHER-BOUND FIRST EDITION, first impression. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.[2] 192 [4]. Recently re-bound in tan half calf, with raised bands, gilt titles to spine, and matching cloth over boards. All edges lightly trimmed, with the original cloth spine..... More
Curtain. Poirot's Last Case.
London: Collins, 1975. [Murder Mystery] LEATHER-BOUND FIRST EDITION, first impression. Octavo (21 x 14cm), pp.[2] 221 [3]. Recently re-bound in black half calf, with raised bands, gilt titles to spine, and matching cloth over boards. All edges lightly trimmed, with the original cloth spine bound in at rear. A crisp..... More
Curtain. Poirot's Last Case.
London: Collins, 1975. [Murder Mystery] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (21 x 14cm), pp.221 [3]. Publisher's black cloth lettered in gilt to spine, typographic dust-wrapper. Contents clean, ink name to front endpaper, p/c jacket with some chips and tears to extremities. Very good. Poirot's final mystery, published September 1975. This was actually..... More
Dead Man's Folly (A Hercule Poirot mystery).
London: The Crime Club by Collins, 1956. [Detective Fiction] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.256. Publisher's red cloth titled in black, original printed dust-wrapper, unpriced for export. No inscriptions, colourful bookplate to front endpaper. A very good copy with some chips and tears to the jacket, rubbed in places..... More
Dead Man's Folly.
London: The Crime Club by Collins, 1956. [Crime fiction] FINELY BOUND FIRST EDITION. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.256. Finely bound by the Baker Bindery, Anniston, Alabama in green full morocco, with gilt titles and decoration to spine, green patterned paste-paper endpapers, generous turn-ins ruled in gilt, with gilt motifs of..... More
Death Comes as The End.
London: For The Crime Club by Collins, 1945. [Mystery] LEATHER-BOUND FIRST EDITION, first impression. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.160. Elegantly hand-bound in half mid-green calf over green cloth boards, lettered in gilt to the spine, five raised bands ruled in blind, original cloth spine preserved at rear. Contents clean; exterior..... More
Death in the Clouds.
London: The Crime Club, Collins, 1952. [Modern Literature] VINTAGE HARDCOVER REPRINT. Octavo (19 x 12cm), pp.188. Publisher's blue cloth lettered in gilt to spine, typographic dust-jacket with printed price of 2/- to front cover and spine. Toning to edges of textblock and pages, rubbing to gilt, rolling and bumping to..... More
Destination Unknown.
London: The Crime Club, by Collins, 1954. [Spy novel] FIRST EDITION, first impression. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.192. Publisher's cloth binding in dust-wrapper priced at 10/6. No inscriptions. Some toning, spine panel a little browned. Very good indeed. Secret Service thriller from the Queen of Crime; When a number of..... More
Destination Unknown.
London: The Crime Club, by Collins, 1954. [Spy novel] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.192. Elegantly hand-bound in half navy blue calf, spine gilt-lettered in six compartments with raised bands, cloth sides, publisher's original cloth spine bound in at rear. A few very light marks to fore-edge, exterior unmarked..... More
Destination Unknown.
London: The Crime Club, by Collins, 1954. [Spy novel] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.192. Publisher's cloth binding in dust-wrapper. No inscriptions. Uniform toning to edges, jacket with a few chips and tears, age-toned to spine, price clipped. Very good. Secret Service thriller from the Queen of Crime; When..... More
Dumb Witness [Hercule Poirot].
London: Special Edition for the Book Club, no date [circa 1937]. [Crime Fiction] LEATHER-BOUND BOOK CLUB EDITION, contemporary with the first. Octavo (20 x 14cm), pp.[4] 316 [2]. With four black and white photographic plates. Recently re-bound in red half calf, with raised bands, gilt titles to spine, and matching..... More
Evil Under The Sun.
London: The Crime Club by Collins, 1941. [Detective novel] FIRST EDITION, first impression. Octavo (19 x 14cm), pp.252 [4]. With an illustrated map of 'Leathercombe Bay', the scene of the crime. Publisher's orange cloth lettered in black. With the illustrated dust-jacket. No inscriptions, contents clean, page edges show some dustiness..... More
Five Little Pigs. [Murder in Retrospect].
London: Published for the Crime Club by Collins, 1942. [Crime Mystery] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.192. Publisher's orange cloth with black titles to spine. With the yellow and pink typographic dust-jacket. Some spotting and toning to edges, otherwise crisp and clean internally. Jacket shows some marks and spotting..... More
Five Miss Marple Novels. The Mirror Crack'd; Caribbean Mystery; Nemesis; What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw!; The Body in the Library.
New York, NY: Chatham River Press, 1984. [Crime Omnibus] DELUXE EDITION. Octavo (24 x 16cm), pp.[8] 650 [6]. Publisher's green full leatherette, with gilt titles, as well as elaborate red and gilt decoration, to spine and upper. All edges gilt, with facsimile marbling to endpapers. Quite heavily browned throughout to..... More
Getuige à Charge. [Witness for the Prosecution].
Leiden: A.W. Sijthoff, 1960. [Crime Short Stories] DUTCH FILM TIE-IN. Octavo (18 x 12cm), pp.181 [3]. Publisher's orange and cream paper over boards, with black titles to spine. With the dust-jacket showing a still from the film of the same name starring Marlene Dietrich and Charles Laughton (1957), not priced..... More
Hercule Poirot's Christmas.
London: The Crime Club by Collins, 1939. [Festive mystery] First Edition. Octavo (20 x 14cm), pp.251 [5]. Publisher's bright orange cloth, lettered to the back-strip in black. With the illustrated dust-jacket, not priced. A very good copy in the scarce correct, un-restored and unclipped dust-jacket, which is lightly chipped at..... More
Hickory Dickory Dock [A Hercule Poirot Mystery].
London: The Crime Club by Collins, 1955. [Detective novel] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.192. Publisher's red cloth with titles and imprint in black to spine. Dust-jacket designed by Kenneth Farnhill, priced at 10/6. Contents clean, edges foxed, discreet ink ownership hidden under flap, jacket toned/spotted to rear panel..... More
Hickory Dickory Dock [A Hercule Poirot Mystery].
London: The Crime Club by Collins, 1955. [Detective novel] FIRST EDITION, first impression. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.192. Publisher's red cloth with titles and imprint in black to spine. Dust-jacket designed by Kenneth Farnhill, priced at 10/6. Contents and edges clean, discreet price 4/- to corner of endpaper, jacket gently..... More
Hickory Dickory Dock.
London: The Crime Club by Collins, 1955. [Crime fiction] FINELY BOUND FIRST EDITION. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.192. Finely bound by the Baker Bindery, Anniston, Alabama in green full morocco, with gilt titles and decoration to spine, green patterned paste-paper endpapers, generous turn-ins ruled in gilt, with gilt motifs of..... More
The Hollow.
London: Collins for the Crime Club, 1946. [Crime / Mystery] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.[4] 256 [2]. Publisher's orange cloth with black titles to spine, typographic dust-wrapper priced at 8/6. Edges spotted, ink ownership to flyleaf. A very good copy in a used jacket with an inch loss..... More
The Hollow.
London: Collins for the Crime Club, 1946. [Crime / Mystery] FIRST EDITION, first impression. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.[4] 256 [2]. Publisher's orange cloth with black titles to spine, typographic dust-wrapper. Discreet owner name and date, edges and contents clean, price clipped jacket is crisp and fresh with some trivial..... More
The Hound of Death. And Other Stories.
London: Odhams Press Limited, 1933. [Crime fiction] FINELY BOUND FIRST EDITION. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.247; [1]. Finely bound by the Baker Bindery, Anniston, Alabama in green full morocco, with gilt titles and decoration to spine, green patterned paste-paper endpapers, generous turn-ins ruled in gilt, with gilt motifs of dagger..... More
The Hound of Death. And Other Stories.
London: Odhams Press Limited, 1933. [Crime fiction] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.247; [1]. Publisher's plum-coloured cloth with titles in gilt to spine. Contents clean, no inscriptions, edges with some expected dustiness/toning, spine sunned, gilt tarnished as usual. A very good, respectable copy without jacket. A collection of twelve..... More
The Hound of Death. And Other Stories.
London: Odhams Press Limited, 1933. [Crime fiction] LEATHER BOUND FIRST EDITION. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.247; [1]. Hand-bound in deep red half calf over cloth sides, spine ruled in six compartments with raised bands, lettered in gilt. Light spotting within, exterior as new. A near fine copy in an attractive..... More
The Labours of Hercules.
New York, NY: Dodd, Mead and Company, 1947. [Crime Short Stories] FIRST US EDITION. Octavo (21 x 14cm), pp.[6] 265 [1]. Publisher's grey cloth with dark green titles to spine and upper. Top edge black, fore-edge untrimmed. With the dust-jacket illustrated by Herbstman, priced at $2.50. Contents clean and fresh..... More