A heads up for Miss Marple fans - the new book written by a host of authors is out tomorrow!
I will be buying it - probably the kindle version first:
Marple: Twelve New Stories: A brand new collection featuring the Queen of Crime’s legendary detective Miss Jane Marple, penned by twelve bestselling and acclaimed authors. Hardcover – 15 Sept. 2022
Glad to see that the map of St Mary Mead is consistent with the old one. If things had changed around it would have led to dastardly allegations that these maps were only artistic interpretations.
(Warning: This review may contain spoilers for the novels Appointment With Death, Death on the Nile, The Hollow, and Five Little Pigs; as well as Christie’s stage adaptations of these plays.)
‘Poirot and the Regatta Mystery’ was first published in the
USA in The Chicago Tribune on 3 May 1936, and in The
Strand in June the same year. Agatha Christie rewrote the
story for its first appearance in book form, substituting Parker
Pyne in place of Hercule Poirot, in the American anthology
The Regatta Mystery (published by Dodd, Mead in June
1939). The original version is printed here for the first time in
more than 60 years.
November 2022: Highlights of Agatha Christie eBay Sales
This month’s review of worldwide eBay sales of Agatha Christie related items provides a wide range of collectibles but with an extra focus on questionable signed items.
For collectors of Agatha Christie books, plays, photos and ephemera, anything signed will always be appealing and increase its value. However, forgers are well aware of this increase in value and as such buyers of signed items must be especially cautious. The documentary series ‘Fake or Fortune’ revealed that as much as 40% of collectible paintings in circulation are forgeries. Given the ease with which signatures can be forged in comparison to a painting, it should cause collectors of anything purported to be signed by Christie to be exceptionally cautious.
That's quite fascinating, Pete — maybe we ought to have an article in the Journal and/or on the EBS website (by Tony or someone of similar calibre) on how to judge the authenticity of an Enid Blyton signature!!
Society Member
It was a nuisance. An adventure was one thing - but an adventure without anything to eat was quite another thing. That wouldn't do at all. (The Valley of Adventure)
COLLECT PAPERBACKS: Agatha Christie's First Six Books.
There are many collectors of Agatha Christie’s works who have focused on building a collection of paperbacks. However, when one considers the first paperbacks, the first question that arises is how to sequence first paperbacks. Christie’s first book – The Mysterious Affair at Styles – was not her first book to be printed as a paperback. Thus, the sequencing of titles as issued in paperback editions is entirely different from the sequencing of the hardbacks. Another question to ask is whether you will collect the first British printings or the first global printings. With hardbacks, many of Christie’s novels were first published in the USA so collectors of true firsts need to be familiar with publishers on both sides of the atlantic. This is also true with paperbacks, as many first English-language printings were not published in the UK, but were also published in the US and continental Europe.
For this article, we will explore the first global appearances of Christie’s first six books in paperback – i.e. those initially published by The Bodley Head in hardback in Britain. The variety of these printings – by publisher, region and date – shows how challenging the world of paperback collecting can be. For these six books alone, there were four different publishers for their first printings – two in Britain and two in the States, with publication dates spread across three decades.
The Mystery of Agatha Christie (2013) - Artist: Tom Adams
One of the most admired cover artists for Agatha Christie's books is Tom Adams. His first cover was for "A Murder is Announced" (1962) and his last traditional cover was for "Miss Marple's Final Cases" (1979).
" A kind heart always brings its own reward," said Mrs. Lee.
- The Christmas Tree Aeroplane - Society Member
Yes, Pete, I’ve always wanted to visit Greenway as well. It always looks so lovely if you see it on television. I believe you can stay there, but I bet it’s very expensive.
It is a lovely house and grounds, and a really good nostalgic visit for Christie-lovers. I last visited it on my birthday, a few years ago. A birthday shared with Agatha. We took the steam train to Churston, then a vintage bus to Greenway. So atmospheric.