5 Mary Westmacott (Agatha Christie) first editions are documented on this shelf, from Giant's Bread (1930) to A Daughter's a Daughter (1952) across 4 different publishers. Each linked guide gives the points of issue that separate a true first printing of that Mary Westmacott (Agatha Christie) title from later printings and book-club copies — the publisher and year to expect, the number-line or edition-statement conventions, and the tells that show up in online listings.
Identification only, per the house rule: no prices and no appraisals here. Checking a Mary Westmacott (Agatha Christie) copy in hand? Type the title into the First-Edition Checker or photograph the copyright page with Snap & Sort.
- Giant's Bread — 1930 · William CollinsUK Collins published April 1930 under the Westmacott pseudonym (448 pp); US Doubleday, Doran followed August 1930 (358 pp). The first of six Mary Westmacott novels; the pseudonym was not publicly revealed as Christie until the mid-1940s. UK Collins (April 1930) precedes the US Doubleday, Doran edition (August 1930), so Collins is the true first. Collectible as the first pseudonymous Westmacott novel. Later printings follow.
- Unfinished Portrait — 1934 · William CollinsUK Collins, London, first published March 1934 under the Mary Westmacott pseudonym, in cloth boards lettered in black. Second of the six Westmacott novels and semi-autobiographical. The dust jacket art is by Hookway Cowles, the same illustration used on both the UK and US editions. UK Collins (March 1934) is the true first edition, preceding the US Doubleday, Doran edition of 1934. A second impression followed in the same month (March 1934); distinguishing the true first from that early reprint is a key collecting point, and later reissues follow the 1934 first.
- Absent in the Spring — 1944 · William CollinsUK Collins edition published August 1944; US Farrar and Rinehart edition followed later the same year, also under the Mary Westmacott pen name. This was the third of six Westmacott novels and reportedly Christie's own favorite among them. The title comes from Shakespeare's Sonnet 98. The UK Collins edition (August 1944) precedes the US Farrar and Rinehart edition of the same year, so the UK printing is the true first. Later printings and reprints follow the 1944 first editions.
- The Rose and the Yew Tree — 1948 · RinehartThe fourth of six Westmacott novels and the last published before Christie's authorship of the pen name was publicly revealed in 1949. The US edition appeared in early 1948 (the story had been serialized in Good Housekeeping in December 1947 and January 1948); the UK William Heinemann edition followed in November 1948. Note the UK publisher is Heinemann, not Collins. The US edition (early 1948) precedes the UK Heinemann edition (November 1948), so the US printing is the true first, not the UK Heinemann edition as originally recorded. Sources cite the US publisher variously as Farrar and Rinehart or Rinehart; the firm was in transition around this date, so the exact imprint wording on the title page should be confirmed against a copy in hand. Later printings and reprints follow the 1948 first editions.
- A Daughter's a Daughter — 1952 · William HeinemannFifth of the six novels Christie wrote as Mary Westmacott. UK Heinemann hardcover published 24 November 1952 is the first edition; the book had no contemporary US edition and was not published in the US until a Dell paperback in 1963. Collation approximately [6], 200 pages. The UK William Heinemann hardcover (24 November 1952) is the true first; there was no 1952 US edition, and the first US appearance was the Dell paperback of 1963. The 1963 US Dell paperback and later reprints follow the Heinemann first.
More Mystery, Crime & Thriller shelves: Michael Connelly, Minette Walters, Ngaio Marsh, Patricia Cornwell, Patricia Highsmith, P.D. James.
← All authors · All genres · part of the First-Edition Identification resource.