Agatha Christie, First Edition (Over 2,300 results)

Blue Cloth, Gilt. Condition: Good. Folding Maps (illustrator). First UK Edition. Vii, (I), 318 Pp. Blue Cloth. 1897 Date On Title Page. Dark Blue Endpapers. Bookplate Of E A Belcher, Major And Civil Servant, "En Dieu Est Tout". Color Even, Gilt Brilliant, But Bumping To Edges, And Waviness To Cloth And Endpapers (Water Damage). Christie's Dedication In Her 1924 Novel The Mystery Of The Mill House Reads "To E.A.B. In Memory Of A Journey, Some Lion Stories And A Request That I Should Some Day Write The Mystery Of The Mill House". As Noted In Wikipedia,"The Book Has Some Parallels To Incidents And Settings Of A Round-The-World Work Trip Taken By Christie With Her First Husband Archie Christie And Headed By His Old Teacher From Clifton College, Major E. A. Belcher, To Promote The Forthcoming 1924 British Empire Exhibition. The Tour Lasted From January 20 To December 1, 1922 (It Was On The Tour That Christie Wrote The Short Stories Which Would Form All Of Poirot Investigates (1924) And Most Of The Contents Of Poirot's Early Cases (Published In 1974). Dining With Belcher Before The Trip, He Had Suggested Setting A Mystery Novel In His Home, The Mill House At Dorney, Naming The Book The Mystery Of The Mill House And Insisted On Being In It As Well. He Is The Inspiration For The Central Character Sir Eustace Pedler, Having Been Given A Title At Archie's Suggestion, And The Mill House Also Makes An Appearance, Albeit Transposed To Marlow. Christie Found Belcher "Childish, Mean And Somehow Addictive As A Personality: ?Never, To This Day, Have I Been Able To Rid Myself Of A Sneaking Fondness For Sir Eustace,? Wrote Agatha Of The Fictionalised Belcher, Whom She Put Into The Man In The Brown Suit. ?I Dare Say It's Reprehensible, But There It Is.?" Following Completion In Late 1923. The Man In The Brown Suit Was First Serialised In The London Evening News Under The Title Anne The Adventurous. It Ran In Fifty Instalments From Thursday, November 29, 1923 To Monday, January 28, 1924. There Were Slight Amendments To The Text, Either To Make Sense Of The Openings Of An Instalment (E.G. Changing "She Then." To "Anne Then."), Or Omitting Small Sentences Or Words. The Main Change Was In The Chapter Division. The Published Book Has Thirty-Six Chapters Whereas The Serialisation Has Only Twenty-Eight. In Her 1977 Autobiography Christie Makes A Slight Mistake With The Name Of The Serialisation And Refers To It As Anna The Adventuress (Possibly Confusing It With The 1904 Book Of The Same Name By E. Phillips Oppenheim). Irrespective Of This Mistake, The Change From Her Preferred Title Was Not Of Her Choosing And The Newspaper's Choice Was One That She Considered To Be "As Silly A Title As I Have Ever Heard". She Raised No Objections However As The Evening News Were Paying Her £500 (£21,141 In Current Terms) For The Serial Rights Which She And Her Family Considered An Enormous Sum.[ At Archie's Suggestion, She Used The Money To Purchase A Grey, Bottle-Nosed Morris Cowley. She Later Stated That Acquiring Her Own Car Ranked With Dining At Buckingham Palace As One Of The Two Most Exciting Incidents In Her Life.

First Canadian edition of the AUTHOR'S FIRST BOOK and first to feature Belgian private detective Hercule Poirot. Issued from sheets of the true first edition (NY; John Lane, 1920) and preceding the London edition (Bodley Head, 1921). We record only one other copy offered for sale and are able to locate only one copy in libraries. Recased with new endpapers added, lettering touched up and cloth coated. Spine a little tanned otherwise near fine. Housed in matching clamshell case lined in silk. Rare. THE FIRST APPEARANCE OF POIROT.

First Edition. THE MYSTERIOUS AFFAIR AT STYLES, John Lane, New York, 1920, first edition, several leaves with some smallish light brown stains, else a fine copy rebound in full tan calf with very nice text block and with gold gilt stamping to the spine and front cover matching the original binding design. The authors first novel and quite scarce in the true first edition as is here.

First Edition. First UK Edition. REVIEW OF THE MYSTERIOUS AFFAIR AT STYLES by AGATHA CHRISTIE. A softcover magazine (not issued with a dustwrapper). In the News Notes section is a positive review of "The Mysterious Affair at Styles" by Agatha Christie (the first novel of Mrs Agatha Christie) recently published by John Lane at 7/6 and illustrated with a photograph of Christie with child. The novel is described as "The most ingenious and absorbingly interesting tale of sensation and mystery we have read for a long time. Mrs Christie knows all the tricks and does them with the cunningest skill". The review goes on to mention that "she is at present engaged on a thriller (The Secret Adversary) of the most pronounced type dealing with the adventures of a boy and girl who are seeking a job and find themselves involved in mysterious and exciting happenings; and she has finished a series of detective stories containing some of the cases solved by Hercule Poirot, the quaint little Belgium detective who figures so prominently in the Styles Affair". The magazine includes, inter alia, further articles on 'Sir Edward Elgar' by George Sampson, 'Posthumous Poems of John Payne' by S M Ellis and 'The Future of the Theatre' by St. John Ervine. The magazine has various sections: NEWS NOTES (including an excellent review of 'She and Allan' by Sir H Rider Haggard), THE BOOKMAN GALLERY, THE READER, NEW BOOKS, NOVEL NOTES, THE BOOKMAN S TABLE, MUSIC, THE DRAMA & ADVERTISEMENTS. A great and important magazine with likely interest to all Christie collectors. Photographs/scans available upon request.

Cloth. Condition: Very Good. None (illustrator). First edition. A smart first edition of Agatha Christie's very scarce first published novel. A thrilling work in featuring the first appearance of Christie's much loved Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot. The first UK edition, first impression, of Agatha Christie's first published novel, marking the first appearance of iconic detective Hercule Poirot. In the bright publisher's original cloth binding.Lacking the title page, half title, and front free endpaper.Written in 1916 during the First World War, and first published in 1920 by John Lane in New York in September 1920, with this very scarce first UK edition published in London in January 1921.With the image of a fragment of the will to page 67, a map of the house to page 42, a plan of Mrs Inglethorp's Bedroom to page 60, and a facsimile of a document to page 83.Upon initial publication, this work received enthusiastic reviews, with 'The Times Literary Supplement' stating 'The only fault this story has is that it is almost too ingenious'. The work marked the start of Christie's illustrious crime fiction career, contributing to her becoming one of the leading authors of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction. In the publisher's original pictorial cloth binding. Externally, exceptionally bright. Shelf wear to back strip head and tail, with light rubbing to the cloth of the front joint, resulting in a touch of fraying to the cloth. Front hinge starting, with board a touch tender. Lacking front free endpaper, half title, and title page. Internally, firmly bound. Pages bright, with only one or two light spots. Marks to tails of pages 100-101 and 154-155. Very Good. book.

Hardcover. Condition: Good. No Jacket. 1st Edition. The book has been rebound in green cloth with the original cloth from front and rear boards retained on the new binding. New endpapers. Slight browning to the edge of pages and occasional marks and blemishes throughout. First edition with roman numerals to title page.

First edition, first impression, of the author's second book, the first of five books featuring husband and wife detectives Tommy and Tuppence, this copy in an uncommon special binding issued simultaneously with the trade edition. Wagstaff & Poole, pp. 22-3. Octavo. Original green cloth, spine and front cover lettered and decorated in black, "Ex Libris" vignette to front cover in black. Ownership inscription to front free endpaper, pencil annotations to rear free endpaper. Spine toned, extremities bumped, slight wear to one corner, top edge a little soiled, contents slightly foxed. A very good copy.

[Mystery novel]. FIRST EDITION. Octavo, pp.312; [4], 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, pistol, moustache and knitting needles tooled as the four corner-pieces, all edges gilt. Original cloth spine and upper bound in at rear. Internally bright and clean. A fine copy in a handsome leather binding. The author's scarce second novel, being the first adventure for her popular series characters Tommy and Tuppence Beresford. Wagstaff and Poole; A Christie Bibliography. See also Cooper and Pike; Detective Fiction. HUBIN; Crime Fiction IV.

First edition, first impression, of the author's second novel, the first of five books featuring husband and wife detectives Tommy and Tuppence, this copy with the author's clipped signature loosely inserted. Octavo. Original blue-green cloth, spine and front cover lettered and decorated in blue. Spine slightly bumped and faded, a couple of corners lightly frayed, minor soiling to front cover, foxing to edges and occasionally to contents, otherwise clean internally. A very good copy.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. Agatha Christie (1922) The Secret Adversary , UK first edition, first printing, published by The Bodley Head. Accompanied by an original typed letter signed by Christie as Agatha Mallowan. The book: in very good condition and well preserved for a book from 1922. There are no previous owner s scribbles, no names, no bookplates, no stamps. The lettering on the spine is clearly legible and not rubbed out. The front board s ornaments are there with just a little rubbing. Rear board is clean. Usual shelf wear to edges. Page block edges not foxed, toned commensurate with age. Internally faint foxing spots here and there such as on our sample image of page 55. The original dust jacket is not present. However, we do provide a facsimile dust jacket which presents and protects the book on the shelf nicely. Those early Christie original dust jackets are exceptionally scarce and add considerable sums to the price. The letter: one page, 8vo, on Christie s stationary paper with Winterbrook House header, dated 18th February 1972 [exactly fifty years after The Secret Adversary s publication in 1922]. In the letter to John Higgins, Christie counts that by then she had published 81 books, the same number as her age. She further says that she know nothing about the exact number of sales, but notes that they increase every year. She signs as Agatha Mallowan. John Dalby Higgins (1934-1999) was a journalist and Arts Editor for The Times (1970-1988). In 1972 he asked Christie whether she would be willing to serve a judge for a Times short story competition to which Christie agreed. Higgins needed from Christie some background information to introduce her to the readership. Hence, this letter. In fine condition with two paperclip indentations to the top left corner as shown. The Secret Adversary is Dame Agatha Christie s second novel only preceeded by The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1921). It was received well upon publication. A first German film adaptation followed in 1929 (silent film called Die Abenteurer G.m.b.H.). A TV adaptation follows in 1983 and as recently as 2014 produced by the BBC. First and Fine. Signed by Author(s).

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Facsimile. 1st Edition. A very good plus copy and an extremely hard to find early 1923 printing. 296 age appropriate pages with no inscriptions, tears or loss. Dated 1923 on the copyright page. First Cheap Edition. Original end papers are present. Outer green boards with the unique art décor motif with slightly faded spine. Comes with the original facsimile jacket to complete the book. In amazing condition for a book that is 100 years old.

Hardcover. Condition: Good. No Jacket. First Edition. First US edition 1923. Corners and spine ends bumped and rubbed. Black mark to lower portion of spine. Endpapers have been neatly reinforced with sellotape. Ink inscriptions on frt. pastedown and f.e.p. Pr evious owner's bookplate on f.e.p. Else good in original green cloth with title in orange. Very scarce.

First UK edition, first printing. Bound in full green crushed morocco by Baker Bindery, Alabama (for Asprey). Five raised bands, gilt ruled compartments and titles in gilt to the spine. Upper and lower boards ruled in gilt. Inner dentelles double ruled and with corner pieces in gilt. Green patterned endpapers. All edges gilt. The publisher's original orange cloth bound in at the rear. A fine copy, the binding square and tight, the contents spotlessly clean throughout and without previous owner's inscriptions or stamps. Agatha Christie's third novel and by a small margin her scarcest in the British first edition. Featuring Hercule Poirot and Arthur Hastings. (Hubin) Further details and images for any of the items listed are available on request. Lucius Books welcomes direct contact with our customers.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. First Edition. HARDBACK - A very good book with orange boards that is a little faded to the spine. Light soiling to the rear panel. Internally, the pages are generally clean with the odd sporadic finger mark found to the inner text. The books front and rear hinges have at some time been strengthened, with no splitting to the books hinges. No previous owner names or insriptions are present, with the book solidly bound, no signs of spine lean or rolling.

First edition, first impression. 8vo., original orange cloth, lettered in black with art-nouveau linear design in black. London, John Lane, The Bodley Head. Christie's third novel, and surely one of her rarest, only the second to feature Hercule Poirot, the great detective here pitted against a distinctly unfriendly member of the French police, also notable for the amorous adventures of Poirot's sidekick Hastings, who falls for the charms of a red headed acrobat. More than one contemporary reviewer compared Christie's writing to Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories. A significant rarity, RareBookHub list only seven copies in the original cloth to have sold at auction, even more uncommon in an unsophisticated state such as the copy presented here. An excellent copy, with the eight pages of advertisements at the rear, firm and tight, slightly worn at the extremities, one small spot to the upper cover, head of spine very slightly creased. Wagstaff & Poole; A Christie Bibliography. Hubin; Crime Fiction IV.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. Christie's third novel and her scarcest. Especially rare in the original cloth. rear free and paper has some writing in pencil. This is a very good first edition, housed in a custom-made collector's slipcase.

hardcover. Condition: Very good. First US. A true first US edition, with 1924 on the title page and no references to later printings on the copyright page. Ex-library in library binding with library stamp on title page. Very good condition.

[Mystery novel] FIRST EDITION. Octavo, pp.[vi]; 310; [2], 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, pistol, moustache and knitting needles tooled as the four corner-pieces, all edges gilt. Original cloth spine and upper bound in at rear. Internally bright and clean. A fine copy in a handsome leather binding. The fourth of Christie's 66 original crime novels, and the first to feature the secret service agent Johnny Race.

Hard Cover. First Edition. (London: John Lane The Bodley Head 1924). First UK Edition, First Issue "First published in 1924" to the copyright page. Publisher's tan cloth stamped in brown on front and spine. One blank leaf, 3 leaves, 310 pages plus 2 pages of ads at back. Fore and bottom page edges uncut. Top page edges stained brown. A good only copy. Rubbed and creased with a neat former owner's name to the front free end-paper, several marks to the boards, hinges starting, spine tips softened, some foxing which has crept into the text block Photographs/scans available upon request.

First Edition. First edition hardback of Christie's fourth novel. 310pp + 2pp of adverts to rear. Bookplate to front endpaper . Front and rear endpaper glue repaired at gutter. Tan covers worn to spine and with some slight marks. A little foxing throughout. A Good copy of this scarce early Christie. Supplied in a high quality facsimile copy of the first edition dustjacket.

hardcover. Condition: Very good. First. The first edition, rare. In original decorated cloth. Very good condition. Housed in a custom-made slipcase.

First edition, first impression. The novel features the first appearance of Colonel Race, who returned in three later novels by Christie. An American edition was published later in the same year. The publishers "had hoped for a detective story, but got instead a well-paced thriller with a strong sense of place, which aficionados consider one of her best. Reviews were generally enthusiastic" (Wagstaff & Poole, p. 30). Wagstaff & Poole, pp. 30-1. Octavo. Original buff cloth, titles and decorative border to spine and front board in brown, top edge brown. Spine slightly toned and leaning, extremities rubbed, a touch of wear to corners, trivial scuffs to covers, foxing to edges and a few initial leaves, offsetting to endpapers, otherwise internally clean. A very good copy.

[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 fourth of Christie's sixty-six original crime novels, and the first to feature the secret service agent Johnny Race.

[Crime fiction] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.[2] viii, 298 [20]. Publisher's ochre cloth, titled and decorated in black to spine and front board. Photo of Poirot attached to pastedown, spine mildly sunned. A very good copy in protective buckram clamshell. This first collection of short stories featuring Hercule Poirot find the Belgian detective investigating all manner of crimes, such as a suicide (which is in fact murder), a suspicious death in a locked-gun room, a million dollar bond robbery, the curse of a pharaoh's tomb and the abduction of a prime minister. Wagstaff and Poole. Cooper and Pike; Detective Fiction [p.82-89].

[Mystery novel] FIRST AMERICAN EDITION. Octavo (20 x 14cm), pp.viii; [2]; 310. Publisher's navy cloth, red titles to upper and spine. Top edge red, fore untrimmed. A short tear at the top of the spine, one corner bumped, else very good indeed. Rather scarce. A murder-mystery for Superintendent Battle of Scotland Yard. "Reckoned by her critics to be one of the best of Christie's early thrillers" [Wagstaff and Poole, p.39].

[Mystery novel]. FIRST EDITION. Octavo, pp.[xii]; 306; [2], 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, pistol, moustache and knitting needles tooled as the four corner-pieces, all edges gilt. Original cloth spine and upper bound in at rear. Internally bright and clean. A fine copy in a handsome leather binding. The combined forces of Scotland Yard and the French Surete can do no better than go in circles - until the final murder at Chimneys, the great country estate that yields up an amazing secret. The first novel to feature Superintendent Battle and 'Bundle' Brent. Wagstaff and Poole; A Christie Bibliography. See also Cooper and Pike; Detective Fiction. HUBIN; Crime Fiction IV.

Soft cover. Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. AGATHA CHRISTIE complete novelette "THE UNDER DOG" in Mystery Magazine - April 1, 1926 issue - TRUE WORLDWIDE 1ST PRINTING (published 6 months later in the UK in the October 1926 edition of The London Magazine - published in book form (2 New Crime Stories) in the UK in 1929, in the U.S. in 1951 in "The Under Dog and Other Stories" and then the first UK Agatha Christie only book in 1960 "The Adventure Of the Christmas Pudding and Other Stories". With the exception of Blue Book Magazine (which are fairly common from the 1920s), pre-1930 magazines like this are near impossible to find (particularly with both covers intact). Magazine is nice - minimal wear to squared spine - only tiny losses at spine tips (no lettering affected - spine chipping is extremely common with these 1920s pulp mags), cover (as is usual) is taller than the page block thus causing excessive wear/creasing along bottom edge, cheap paper while age yellowed is worn at corners and just starting to brittle/flake (as is often found), no other chipping, tearing or creasing to cover, no missing pages, rear cover intact, no former ownership markings or used bookstore stamps inside, edge wear, no soiling or staining to cover. Overall a VG condition magazine of a rare Agatha Christie 1920s true 1st worldwide printing of this story (published years/decades before it was published in an Agatha Christie book). I have a number of other U.S. and U.K. Agatha Christie 1st printing hardcover/ paperback/magazine appearances up for sale.

Hardcover. Condition: Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Fine. 1st Edition. First impression of the 'popular edition' from 1926 (not the true 1st) in good condition, there is a previous owner inscription to ffep and spotting to some pages, page 33/34 is loose at the bottom but still attached at the top. the jacket is a facsimile copy, please see pics, paypal accepted, any questions please get in touch.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. First Edition. First US edition, first printing. 8vo. Original pictorial cloth. The first US printing of the third Hercule Poirot title and the seventh overall book by Christie - rare.

Hardcover. Condition: Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Good. First Edition. Provided with a good facsimile jacket. The boards are shelf rubbed, edge worn and marked, with the corners knocked and the edges fraying, but they remain strong and sturdy despite this. Internally, there is a faint pencil marking on the front end page, along with some very sporadic and light foxing and age related marking throughout. There are no other markings or inscriptions, and the pages within are neat and complete. Tightly bound and presents neatly in cellophane. JK. Our orders are shipped using tracked courier delivery services.