Agatha Christie (1890-1976) - photo 1
Agatha Christie (1890-1976) - photo 2

Agatha Christie (1890-1976)

Lot 226
09.12.2020 00:00UTC +00:00
Classic
Starting price
£ 1 000
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
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ID 470341
Lot 226 | Agatha Christie (1890-1976)
Estimate value
£ 1 000 – 1 500
Agatha Christie (1890-1976)

The Mysterious Affair at Styles. 1921

CHRISTIE, Agatha (1890-1976). The Mysterious Affair at Styles. London: The Bodley Head, 1921.



First British edition of the 'Queen of Crime's' first novel; the centenary of the debut of Hercule Poirot. Christie wrote the draft for this, her first novel, in 1916, as a result of a bet with her sister Margaret ('Madge'). Agatha had worked as a nurse during the First World War, and the character of Poirot was based both on wounded Belgian soldiers she had treated and Belgian refugees living in her home town of Torquay. Her medical training also gave her an understanding of poisons, which lie at the heart of the novel. Her original manuscript was rejected by Hodder & Stoughton and Methuen. Eventually, John Lane at The Bodley Head offered her a contract subject to her changing how the solution was revealed. It was published in the United States in October 1920, before being published in the U.K. on 21 January 1921.



Octavo (190 x 126mm). Half-title, text-illustration (3 leaves lightly dogeared, occasioanl faint spotting or staining, this insignificant and mostly confined to margins). Publisher's tan cloth with design and lettering in black on upper cover and spine (lower joint splitting and cloth fraying, light abrasions to covers with associated loss of colour, extremities rubbed). Provenance: 'J.A.K.' (pencilled initials on upper cover).

Place of origin:Northern Europe
Auction house category:Books
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
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09.12.2020 – 09.12.2020
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