# Is "Sad Cypress" by Agatha Christie a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Sad Cypress by Agatha Christie (William Collins, 1940) is identified by: UK Collins Crime Club, March 1940, is the first edition, a Hercule Poirot novel of 256 pages. The UK Collins Crime Club edition (March 1940) is the true first; the US Dodd, Mead edition (September 1940) is the American first of the same year and is set from different type.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- UK Collins Crime Club, March 1940, is the first edition, a Hercule Poirot novel of 256 pages
- The book is bound in the Crime Club's standard orange cloth lettered in black on the spine
- The pictorial dust jacket, by an uncredited Collins artist, carries the printed original price on the front flap; a true first-edition jacket should show that printed price present (a clipped example is still a first, but the price should not be replaced or over-stickered)
- This title carried a raised published price, the first such increase for a UK Christie since her 1921 debut
- The US Dodd, Mead edition followed in September 1940 and is the American first
- Publisher imprint reads William Collins
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Agatha Christie |
| Publisher | William Collins |
| Year | 1940 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | UK Collins Crime Club, March 1940, is the first edition, a Hercule Poirot novel of 256… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
UK Collins Crime Club, March 1940, is the first edition, a Hercule Poirot novel of 256 pages. The book is bound in the Crime Club's standard orange cloth lettered in black on the spine. The pictorial dust jacket, by an uncredited Collins artist, carries the printed original price on the front flap; a true first-edition jacket should show that printed price present (a clipped example is still a first, but the price should not be replaced or over-stickered). This title carried a raised published price, the first such increase for a UK Christie since her 1921 debut. The US Dodd, Mead edition followed in September 1940 and is the American first.

## Is this the true first?
The UK Collins Crime Club edition (March 1940) is the true first; the US Dodd, Mead edition (September 1940) is the American first of the same year and is set from different type.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later Collins reprints and book-club printings follow the first edition; the first issue carries the Crime Club imprint with no later reprint or impression statement.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Sad Cypress* by Agatha Christie a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/sad-cypress
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-03.