# Is "The Body in the Library" by Agatha Christie a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie (Dodd, Mead and Company, 1942) is identified by: The true first is the US edition, Dodd, Mead and Company, New York, February 1942, an octavo of 245 pages bound in bright orange cloth with the Red Badge Detective shield stamped in black on the front board. Corrected: the true first is US Dodd, Mead (February 1942), preceding UK Collins Crime Club (May 1942) — not the UK edition as originally stated.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The true first is the US edition, Dodd, Mead and Company, New York, February 1942, an octavo of 245 pages bound in bright orange cloth with the Red Badge Detective shield stamped in black on the front board
- It preceded the UK Collins Crime Club edition (May 1942) by roughly three months; wartime paper rationing delayed the British production
- The second novel to feature Miss Marple, closing the twelve-year gap since The Murder at the Vicarage
- Publisher imprint reads Dodd, Mead and Company
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Agatha Christie |
| Publisher | Dodd, Mead and Company |
| Year | 1942 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The true first is the US edition, Dodd, Mead and Company, New York, February 1942, an octavo of 245 pages bound in bright orange cloth with… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
The true first is the US edition, Dodd, Mead and Company, New York, February 1942, an octavo of 245 pages bound in bright orange cloth with the Red Badge Detective shield stamped in black on the front board. It preceded the UK Collins Crime Club edition (May 1942) by roughly three months; wartime paper rationing delayed the British production. The second novel to feature Miss Marple, closing the twelve-year gap since The Murder at the Vicarage (1930).

## Is this the true first?
Corrected: the true first is US Dodd, Mead (February 1942), preceding UK Collins Crime Club (May 1942) — not the UK edition as originally stated. The US printing precedes the UK by about three months.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later printings and reprints follow the first editions; the US first is identified by the orange cloth with the black Red Badge Detective shield to the front board.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Body in the Library* by Agatha Christie a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-body-in-the-library
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.