Agatha Christie memorobilia & "first editions" - true values.
mike1410
Franklin, New Zealand
I have just been browsing through Ebay at some of the items listed in the category 'Antiquarian & Collectable' for Agatha Christie. The range of prices wanted for what seems to me to be some very nondescript and quite frankly commonplace copies of some of her books is staggering. There seem to be rather a lot of books described as 'first editions', some of which (to me) look suspiciously like the modern reprints issued as monthly partworks over the past few years, rather than in some cases 60 and 70 year old books.
Whilst I sincerely hope that the copy of The Blue Train advertised as a first edition for £4,000 is genuine I am left wondering A) how do you tell if a book really is a first edition?
since some of her books had an initial print run of over 50,000 copies just how rare/collectible are these first editions in any case? and C) who in their right mind pays £4,000 for one book!!!!
I was struck because someone is also selling a copy of the book The Agatha Christie Hour, that was printed to accompany the UK television series of the same name in the early 1980's. I have the series on DVD and recently saw and bought the book in a local secondhand shop for the princely sum of $5 NZ (£2.50 GBP) - on Ebay a copy is for sale for £125!. Have I made the bargain purchase of my life, or are some people delusional in what they think old books are worth?
Whilst I sincerely hope that the copy of The Blue Train advertised as a first edition for £4,000 is genuine I am left wondering A) how do you tell if a book really is a first edition?
since some of her books had an initial print run of over 50,000 copies just how rare/collectible are these first editions in any case? and C) who in their right mind pays £4,000 for one book!!!!I was struck because someone is also selling a copy of the book The Agatha Christie Hour, that was printed to accompany the UK television series of the same name in the early 1980's. I have the series on DVD and recently saw and bought the book in a local secondhand shop for the princely sum of $5 NZ (£2.50 GBP) - on Ebay a copy is for sale for £125!. Have I made the bargain purchase of my life, or are some people delusional in what they think old books are worth?
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