Christie, Agatha.

8vo, first English edition of the author's first book, marking the debut of the egotistical Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, presentation copy, inscribed "abney" (the home of her brother-in-law james watts) on front endpaper, and with an autograph letter signed tipped-in at the end ("My dear Pop - My book is out at last...", 2 pages, 8vo, 8 Addison Mansions, Blythe Road, 27 January [1921]), also with a further typed letter signed loosely inserted (to the later owner James Keddie of Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts, 1 page, 4to, 7 June 1960), front panel of the rare dust-jacket affixed to upper paste-down, clipping from Bookman tipped-in to rear endpaper, original tan cloth decorated and lettered in black, preserved in specially made quarter blue morocco folding box, red morocco label on spine



a remarkable family presentation copy, providing a glimpse of the young detective novelist's hopes and fears upon the publication of her first book.



Christie had actually written her first novel in 1916, between her husband Archie's leaves and her hospital work, and subsequently seen it turned down by a number of publishers, including Methuen and Hodder & Stoughton. It was not until 1919, shortly after the birth of her daughter Rosalind, and when the author had almost lost all thought of writing, that "the letter from the Bodley Head, asking her to visit the office and discuss The Mysterious Affair at Styles, dropped out of the sky from nowhere" (Laura Thompson, Agatha Christie).

From the library of the American collector James Keddie Jr. (correspondence with Agatha Christie included in this lot) 

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, when appropriate.
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"My dear Pop - My book is out at last! Do get it - & induce others to if you can! It makes all the difference to further books if the first one goes well - 'The Mysterious Affair at Styles' pub. Bodley Head - I'm awfully excited about it..."

In her subsequent career Christie became the most widely published author of all time, her books selling over two billion copies, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare.

The later typed letter explains the family connection with James Watts, who lived at Abney Hall, Cheadle, Cheshire. Christie writes that "I have no recollection of calling him 'Pop' at that time, but nicknames do come and go in a family...". She adds in a P.S. that "it occurs to me that the book might possibly have been sent to the father of my brother-in-law - an older James Watts..."