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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
Sparkling Cyanide.
London: For the Crime Club by Collins, 1945. [Mystery] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.160. Publisher's orange cloth with titles in black to spine. Illustrated dust-jacket priced at 8s.6d. No inscriptions. Jacket shows general wear, chipped at foot of spine, tear to joint backed with a strip of clear..... More
Sparkling Cyanide.
London: For the Crime Club by Collins, 1945. [Mystery] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.160. Publisher's orange cloth with titles in black to spine. Illustrated dust-jacket. No inscriptions. Discreet address stamp to endpaper, correct jacket has been clipped and repriced to 4/6 by the publisher (was 8/6), shows some..... More
Sparkling Cyanide.
London: Collins Crime Club, 1945. [Mystery] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.160. Elegantly hand-bound in half burgundy calf over cloth sides, spine gilt-lettered in six compartments with traditional raised bands. Contents clean, exterior as new. A fine copy in a striking recent leather binding. "A year ago, seven people..... More
They Came to Baghdad.
London: Published for the Crime Club by Collins, 1951. [Crime Mystery] LEATHER-BOUND FIRST EDITION. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.[2] 256 [2]. Recently re-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..... More
They Came to Baghdad.
London: Published for the Crime Club by Collins, 1951. [Crime fiction] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.256. Publisher's orange cloth with titles and imprint in black to spine. Typographic dust-jacket, unpriced for export. Contents clean, discreet owner name/date to flyleaf, text block a little toned, jacket with a few..... More
They Do it With Mirrors.
London: The Crime Club by Collins, 1952. [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
They Do it With Mirrors.
London: The Crime Club by Collins, 1952. [Crime Fiction] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.192. Publisher's orange cloth with black titles to spine. With the dust-jacket illustrated by Farnhill, priced at 10/6. Book is slightly dusty, no inscriptions. Jacket with a little wear to joints and extremities, small amount..... More
Third Girl.
London: The Crime Club by Collins, 1966. [Crime fiction] FINELY BOUND FIRST EDITION. Octavo (20 x 14cm), 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
Thirteen at Dinner.
New York, NY: Dodd, Mead and Company. 1933. [Murder Mystery] FIRST U.S. EDITION. Octavo (20 x 15cm) pp.[x]; 305; [1], blank. Publisher's red cloth heavily blocked in black, fore-edge untrimmed, illustrated dust-wrapper priced at $2.00. Modest soiling to cloth, a trace of a small rubber stamp on endpapers, else a...... More
![Item #64270 [Thirteen] 13 For Luck! A Selection of Mystery Stories. Agatha CHRISTIE, Dame](https://harringtonbooks-co-uk.cdn.bibliopolis.com/pictures/64270.jpg?width=320&height=427&fit=bounds&auto=webp&v=1687278543)
[Thirteen] 13 For Luck! A Selection of Mystery Stories.
New York, NY: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1961. [Crime Mysteries] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (22 x 13cm), pp.viii; 248. Publisher's mid brown cloth with blue and silver titles to spine. Fore-edge untrimmed. With the illustrated dust-jacket. Price-clipped dust jacket, which has minor wear to spine tips and corners. A fine copy..... More
Three Blind Mice, and Other Stories.
New York, NY: Dodd, Mead & Company, no date [circa 1976]. [Crime Short Stories] UNIFORM EDITION, a reissue. Octavo (22 x 15cm), pp.[8] 248. Publisher' black quarter cloth, with gilt titles to spine and grey paper over boards, showing a facsimile signature stamped in gilt to upper. Grey endpapers, and..... More
Towards Zero.
London: Published by The Crime Club by Collins, 1944. [Crime Mystery] FINELY BOUND FIRST EDITION. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.[2] 160 [2]. Recently bound in burgundy half morocco, with raised bands, gilt titles to spine, and matching cloth over boards. Lightly trimmed for binding. Paper slightly toned as usual. A...... More
Towards Zero.
New York, NY: Dodd, Mead and Company, 1944. [Murder mystery] FIRST US EDITION, usual later issue with 'Blakiston' publisher credit on t.p. Octavo (20 x 15cm), pp.[8] 242 [2]. Publisher's grey cloth with brown decoration to spine and upper, and sketch-map to endpapers. With the dust-jacket illustrated by Koerney. Discreet..... More
Towards Zero.
London: Collins, 1944. [Crime fiction] FIRST EDITION, Crime Club Edition. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.160. Publisher's orange cloth lettered in black to spine. No ink inscriptions, contents clean, some general wear to covers, spine a little sunned and marked; very good. 'Towards Zero' marks the fifth and final appearance of..... More
Two New Crime Stories. The Under Dog, and Blackman's Wood by E. Phillips Oppenheim.
London: The Readers Library Publishing Co., no date [1929]. [Detective Fiction] FIRST EDITION. Small octavo (17 x 11cm), pp188; [2], advertisements. Publisher's burgundy cloth gilt-stamped to upper and spine. With the illustrated dust-wrapper by Vernon L Soper. Contents toned as expected, slight lean, gilt to spine dulled, bright dust jacket..... More
What Mrs. McGuillicuddy Saw!
New York, NY: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1985. [Crime Mystery] UNIFORM EDITION, a reissue. Octavo (22 x 15cm), pp.[6] 277 [5]. Publisher' black quarter cloth, with gilt titles to spine and grey paper over boards, showing a facsimile signature stamped in gilt to upper. Grey endpapers, and fore-edge untrimmed. With..... More
The Unexpected Guest. A Novel Adapted by Charles Osborne from the Play by Agatha Christie.
London: HarperCollinsPublishers, 1999. [Crime Mystery] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (22 x 14cm), pp.[4] 177 [11]. Publisher's black cloth with silver titles to spine. With the dust-jacket illustrated by Andrew Davidson, priced at £14.99. Gently toned throughout, with a little light handling. A fine copy. More
![Item #60851 The Labours of Hercules [in] The Strand Magazine. Volumes 98 and 99, numbers 587 to...](https://harringtonbooks-co-uk.cdn.bibliopolis.com/pictures/60851.jpg?width=320&height=427&fit=bounds&auto=webp&v=1638292264)
The Labours of Hercules [in] The Strand Magazine. Volumes 98 and 99, numbers 587 to 597.
London: George Newnes, November 1939 to September 1940. [Literary Magazine] First appearance. Eleven magazine issues in their original colour-illustrated paper covers, priced at 1s. Octavo (25 x 19cm), pp.[7-8] 104 [9-16]; pp.[1-2] [15-16] 105-208 [17-24]; pp.[8] 209-312 [9-16]; pp.[8] 313-416 [9-16]; pp.[12] 417-520 [13-20]; pp.[12] 521-624 [13-20]; pp.[12] 104 [13-20];..... More
![Item #59955 The £10 Adventure [The Case of the City Clerk] [in] The Strand Magazine. Volume...](https://harringtonbooks-co-uk.cdn.bibliopolis.com/pictures/59955.jpg?width=320&height=427&fit=bounds&auto=webp&v=1658592916)
The £10 Adventure [The Case of the City Clerk] [in] The Strand Magazine. Volume LXXXIV, number 503.
London: George Newnes, November 1932. [Literary Magazine] FIRST UK APPEARANCE. Octavo magazine (25 x 17cm), pp.[32] 443-554 [33-44]. With a suite of four double-sided black and white photographs of Cedric Hardwicke, and numerous in-text illustrations. Publisher's colour-illustrated paper covers, priced at 1s. A nice clean copy with a little wear..... More
The Burden. A Novel of Romance and Suspense.
New York, NY: Arbor House, no date [1973]. [Romance] FIRST US HARDBACK EDITION. Octavo (22 x 15cm), pp.[4] 223 [1]. Publisher's tan quarter cloth, with gilt titles to spine and orange paper over boards. With the orange dust-jacket illustrated by Maureen Domiano, priced at $6.95. Just a touch of spotting..... More