Is My After the Funeral (US: Funerals Are Fatal) a First Edition?

The points of issue

• UK: Collins Crime Club, 18 May 1953, priced the printed price on the jacket, retaining Christie's original title After the Funeral
• This title is the only Christie Crime Club book to print the publisher's date at the rear of the volume rather than on the verso of the title page
• US: Dodd, Mead, March 1953, as Funerals Are Fatal

How to confirm the first-printing statement

Publishers stated first printings differently by era. The decisive tells are a printed “First Edition/First Printing” statement, a number line whose lowest number is 1 (Random House ends at 2), or a dated first printing with no later printings listed. Paste your copyright page into the number-line decoder.

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. Check for a number line or dated printing — the lowest number present is the printing; a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the tell.
3. Verify this is the US true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
4. Rule out a book-club edition — a blind-stamp on the rear board or a jacket with no printed price marks a book-club copy.
5. Photograph four things — the front cover, spine, title page, and copyright page — the standard record for identification.

The dust jacket

For a collectible first edition the dust jacket matters as much as the book. Confirm the jacket is present and unclipped — the printed price should still be at the corner of the flap (a clipped corner or a price-less flap can indicate a book-club issue). First-state jackets can differ from later ones in the cover art, blurbs, or review quotations; where a specific first-state jacket point is known for this title it is noted above.

Binding & format

Where multiple bindings exist, the hardcover trade issue is usually (but not always) the precedence copy — confirm against the points above. Later printings often show cheaper cloth, thinner boards, or simplified spine stamping. A simultaneous signed or limited issue, when one exists, is a distinct state from the trade first.

Is this the true first?

The US Dodd, Mead printing under the variant title Funerals Are Fatal actually appeared a couple of months before the UK Collins edition, so it is chronologically the earliest printed appearance. The UK Collins edition remains the first under Christie's original title After the Funeral; collectors should note the two titles are distinct issues and decide accordingly. Poirot.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Later Collins and Dodd, Mead printings and book-club issues follow; the Crime Club first has no later-printing statement and the distinctive rear-of-book dating.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of After the Funeral (US: Funerals Are Fatal) a first edition?

A first edition of After the Funeral (US: Funerals Are Fatal) by Agatha Christie (William Collins, Sons) is identified by: UK: Collins Crime Club, 18 May 1953, priced the printed price on the jacket, retaining Christie's original title After the Funeral.

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. A stated first edition, a number line ending in 1, or a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the key. The US Dodd, Mead printing under the variant title Funerals Are Fatal actually appeared a couple of months before the UK Collins edition, so it is chronologically the earliest printed appearance.

Is the book-club edition the same as the first?

Later Collins and Dodd, Mead printings and book-club issues follow; the Crime Club first has no later-printing statement and the distinctive rear-of-book dating.

I have a first edition of After the Funeral (US: Funerals Are Fatal) — what should I do?

If you are clearing books in the Albuquerque area, the New Mexico Literacy Project offers free pickup, any condition, and makes sure collectible copies are identified rather than lost. To sell, see the author’s collecting guide. Either way, nothing collectible ends up in a landfill.

Glossary

First edition

Every copy printed from the first setting of type. Collectors usually want the first edition, first printing (the true first).

First printing / impression

A single press run from that setting. The first printing is the earliest and most desirable; later printings are still the first edition but not the true first.

Number line (printer's key)

A row of numbers on the copyright page (e.g. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1). The lowest number present is the printing — a line including 1 marks a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2).

Points of issue

Specific physical details — a stated edition, a number line, a typo, a jacket state — that identify the true first printing.

Book-club edition (BCE)

A reprint made for a book club. Tells include a blind-stamped dot or square on the rear board and a dust jacket with no printed price. Not the true first.

First thus

The first appearance of a particular version (first paperback, first illustrated, first U.S. printing) — a first of that kind, not the first edition of the work.