# Is "The Man in the Brown Suit" by Agatha Christie a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Man in the Brown Suit by Agatha Christie (The Bodley Head, 1924) is identified by: First published in the UK by The Bodley Head (John Lane), 22 August 1924, with the copyright page stating 'First published in 1924'. UK Bodley Head precedes the US Dodd, Mead edition; both dated 1924.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First published in the UK by The Bodley Head (John Lane), 22 August 1924, with the copyright page stating 'First published in 1924'
- Bound in light tan to olive-brown cloth stamped in dark brown with an art-deco border design to the front board and spine; the text collates to 310 pages plus two pages of publisher's advertisements at the rear, with fore and lower edges uncut
- Introduces Colonel Race
- The scarce first-issue pictorial dust jacket shows the Tube-station illustration Christie herself criticized as too old-fashioned; the US Dodd, Mead edition followed later the same year
- Publisher imprint reads The Bodley Head
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Agatha Christie |
| Publisher | The Bodley Head |
| Year | 1924 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First published in the UK by The Bodley Head (John Lane), 22 August 1924, with the copyright page stating 'First published in 1924' |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First published in the UK by The Bodley Head (John Lane), 22 August 1924, with the copyright page stating 'First published in 1924'. Bound in light tan to olive-brown cloth stamped in dark brown with an art-deco border design to the front board and spine; the text collates to 310 pages plus two pages of publisher's advertisements at the rear, with fore and lower edges uncut. Introduces Colonel Race. The scarce first-issue pictorial dust jacket shows the Tube-station illustration Christie herself criticized as too old-fashioned; the US Dodd, Mead edition followed later the same year.

## Is this the true first?
UK Bodley Head precedes the US Dodd, Mead edition; both dated 1924.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later reprints lack the original first-issue pictorial dust jacket, which is very often supplied only in facsimile.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Man in the Brown Suit* by Agatha Christie a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-man-in-the-brown-suit
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.