# Is "The Clocks" by Agatha Christie a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Clocks by Agatha Christie (William Collins, 1963) is identified by: UK Collins Crime Club first, published 7 November 1963, in publisher's orange cloth boards lettered in black on the spine, roughly 256 pages. The UK Collins Crime Club edition is the true first, preceding the US Dodd, Mead edition by roughly a year.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- UK Collins Crime Club first, published 7 November 1963, in publisher's orange cloth boards lettered in black on the spine, roughly 256 pages
- The first-issue dust jacket is a typographic wrapper designed by Michael Harvey and carries the original UK price on the front flap (which should be present and unclipped on a true first)
- A Hercule Poirot novel
- US Dodd, Mead followed in 1964
- Publisher imprint reads William Collins
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Agatha Christie |
| Publisher | William Collins |
| Year | 1963 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | UK Collins Crime Club first, published 7 November 1963, in publisher's orange cloth boards lettered in black on the spine, roughly 256 pages |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
UK Collins Crime Club first, published 7 November 1963, in publisher's orange cloth boards lettered in black on the spine, roughly 256 pages. The first-issue dust jacket is a typographic wrapper designed by Michael Harvey and carries the original UK price on the front flap (which should be present and unclipped on a true first). A Hercule Poirot novel; US Dodd, Mead followed in 1964.

## Is this the true first?
The UK Collins Crime Club edition is the true first, preceding the US Dodd, Mead edition by roughly a year.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
The near-contemporary Book Club (London) reprint is a distinct later issue and is not the Crime Club first; watch binding and jacket details, and confirm the Collins Crime Club imprint and the printed price on the jacket flap.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Clocks* by Agatha Christie a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-clocks
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.