"There is no friend as loyal as a book."
— Ernest Hemingway
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
Endless Night.
New York, NY: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1968. [Crime Mystery] FIRST US EDITION. Octavo (22 x 15cm), pp.[8] 248. Publisher's blue quarter cloth, with gilt titles to spine and lime green paper over boards. Top edge blue. With the blue dust-jacket illustrated by Salem Tamer. Spotting to edges, and a...... More
Endless Night.
London: Published for the Crime Club by Collins, 1967. [Crime Mystery] LEATHER-BOUND FIRST EDITION. Octavo (20 x 13), pp.[2] 224 [2]. Bound in burgundy half calf, with gilt titles to spine, raised bands, and matching cloth over boards. All edges trimmed, with the original publisher's cloth spine bound in at..... More
Endless Night.
London: Published for the Crime Club by Collins, 1967. [Detective fiction] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (20 x 13), pp.224. Publisher's patterned red cloth with gilt titles to spine, in pictorial dust-jacket designed by Kenneth Farnhill. A clean, fine copy of the book in a near fine jacket, ever so slightly sunned..... More
Endless Night.
London: The Crime Club, Collins, 1967. [Modern Literature] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (20 x 14cm), pp.224. Publisher's patterned red cloth with gilt titles to spine, in pictorial dust-jacket designed by Kenneth Farnhill. Toning to edges of textblock, rolling to spine, light wearing to base and crown of jacket backstrip, jacket price..... 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
![Item #63139 Five Little Pigs. [Murder in Retrospect]. Agatha CHRISTIE, Dame](https://harringtonbooks-co-uk.cdn.bibliopolis.com/pictures/63139.jpg?width=320&height=427&fit=bounds&auto=webp&v=1699031781)
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
![Item #62341 Getuige à Charge. [Witness for the Prosecution]. Agatha CHRISTIE, Dame](https://harringtonbooks-co-uk.cdn.bibliopolis.com/pictures/62341.jpg?width=320&height=427&fit=bounds&auto=webp&v=1656172443)
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
![Item #65890 Hickory Dickory Dock [A Hercule Poirot Mystery]. Agatha CHRISTIE, Dame](https://harringtonbooks-co-uk.cdn.bibliopolis.com/pictures/65890.jpg?width=320&height=427&fit=bounds&auto=webp&v=1696350189)
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.
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
![Item #63021 Hickory Dickory Dock. [A Hercule Poirot Mystery]. Agatha CHRISTIE, Dame](https://harringtonbooks-co-uk.cdn.bibliopolis.com/pictures/63021.jpg?width=320&height=427&fit=bounds&auto=webp&v=1665763693)
Hickory Dickory Dock. [A Hercule Poirot Mystery].
London: The Crime Club by Collins, 1955. [Detective novel] LEATHER-BOUND FIRST EDITION. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.192. Elegantly hand-bound in burgundy half oasis, with gilt titles to spine, raised bands, and matching cloth over boards. All edges trimmed, with the original publisher's cloth spine bound in at rear. A little..... 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. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.[4] 256 [2]. Publisher's orange cloth with black titles to spine. Edges toned, ink ownership to flyleaf, spine sunned. Some general wear yet very good. A typical day in the life of Belgian detective..... 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. Discreet owner name and date, edges and contents clean, price clipped jacket is crisp and fresh with some trivial edgewear and..... 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 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
The Labours of Hercules.
London: Published for the Crime Club by Collins, 1947. [Crime Short Stories] FIRST EDITION, first impression. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.[2]; 256; [2]. Publisher's red cloth with black titles to spine, illustrated dust-jacket priced at 8/6. Cloth has a mark to fore-edge, jacket is bright with a few tiny nicks..... More
The Listerdale Mystery. And Other Stories.
London: Collins, 1934. [Crime fiction] FINELY BOUND FIRST EDITION. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.251; [5 of advertisements]. 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
Lord Edgware Dies.
London: For the Crime Club by Collins, 1933. [Detective fiction] FIRST EDITION. Crown octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.252; [4], advertisements. Publisher's orange cloth, titled in black to upper and backstrip. Contents clean. Spine tips lightly worn, scarce original jacket has price excised from spine (sunned beneath), chipped to crown and..... More
Make Mine Murder! Appointment with Death; Peril at End House; Sad Cypress.
New York, NY: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1962. [Crime Omnibus] FIRST EDITION THUS. Octavo (22 x 15cm), pp.[2] 473 [3]. Publisher's red leatherette with silver titles to spine. Top edge yellow and fore-edge untrimmed. With the illustrated dust-jacket, priced at $4.95. Light wear to extremities, with a touch of spotting..... More
The Man in the Brown Suit.
London: John Lane, The Bodley Head, 1924. [Mystery novel] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.[vi]; 310; [2], advertisements. Publisher's light brown cloth, titled and decorated in dark brown. Contents clean. Spine tips and corners with trivial wear, a scuff on the front panel, else a very good copy. The..... More
The Mirror Crack'd From Side To Side.
London: The Crime Club by Collins, 1962. [Crime Fiction] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.256. Handsomely bound in half navy blue calf over cloth-covered boards, raised bands and gilt titles to spine, original cloth spine bound in at rear. A fine copy in an attractive recent leather binding. A...... More
The Mirror Crack'd.
New York, NY: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1963. [Crime Mystery] FIRST US EDITION, first impression. Octavo (21 x 14cm), pp.[8] 246 [2]. Publisher's yellow paper over boards with black titles to spine. With the black dust-jacket illustrated by Salem Tamer, priced at $3.75. A lovely crisp, clean copy showing just..... More