Is My Murder on the Orient Express a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Collins Crime Club, January 1934
• Orange cloth, spine and front board lettered black
• Copyright page reads 'Copyright 1934' with NO reference to any subsequent impression (second/third impressions of Jan 1934 are explicitly noted as such)
• The list of 'Agatha Christie' titles facing the title page ends with 'Lord Edgware Dies' (her most recent prior title)
• Top edge and endpapers orange

How Collins Crime Club marked a first edition

• Collins (UK) generally did NOT use 'First Edition' statements or number lines in the classic era; firsts are identified by the absence of later-printing/reprint notices on the copyright/verso page combined with a publica…
• For collected authors (Agatha Christie etc.), identification is point-driven: jacket price, rear-panel advertisements, and the famous Crime Club 'gunman' device on the jacket. 'A Crime Club Sixpenny' lettered in the gunm…

Full Collins Crime Club first-edition guide →

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 UK 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?

UK Collins Crime Club (Jan 1934) is the true first, preceding the US edition titled 'Murder in the Calais Coach' (Dodd, Mead, 1934). Because the small first impression sold out, second and third impressions appeared within January 1934 — these are NOT firsts and far less valuable. The first-issue wrap-around 'Book of the Month' band is exceedingly scarce.P-000376

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

US 'Murder in the Calais Coach' is a different-titled first for the US market, not a club edition. Later Collins impressions state 'Second Impression'/'Third Impression' on the copyright page — check for the absence of any impression statement.P-000377

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Murder on the Orient Express a first edition?

A first edition of Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie (Collins Crime Club) is identified by: Collins Crime Club, January 1934.

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. UK Collins Crime Club (Jan 1934) is the true first, preceding the US edition titled 'Murder in the Calais Coach' (Dodd, Mead, 1934).

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

US 'Murder in the Calais Coach' is a different-titled first for the US market, not a club edition. Later Collins impressions state 'Second Impression'/'Third Impression' on the copyright page — check for the absence of any impression statement.

I have a first edition of Murder on the Orient Express — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap — an unclipped, priced jacket matters. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and use the free First Edition Checker to decode the printing. To sell, the author’s collecting guide covers the market. And 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 discarded.

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.