# Is "The Mysterious Mr. Quin" by Agatha Christie a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Mysterious Mr. Quin by Agatha Christie (William Collins, 1930) is identified by: UK Collins (Crime Club) published 14 April 1930 in original black cloth with a pictorial dust jacket; US Dodd, Mead followed later in 1930 (290 pp) in peach cloth with black lettering to the spine and front board, cream-and-orange endpapers, and — distinctively — a yellow-paper-stock dust jacket, the only Dodd, Mead Christie jacket not printed on white stock, with the price present on the front flap. UK Collins (14 April 1930) precedes the US Dodd, Mead edition, so the Collins black-cloth issue is the true first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- UK Collins (Crime Club) published 14 April 1930 in original black cloth with a pictorial dust jacket
- US Dodd, Mead followed later in 1930 (290 pp) in peach cloth with black lettering to the spine and front board, cream-and-orange endpapers, and — distinctively — a yellow-paper-stock dust jacket, the only Dodd, Mead Christie jacket not printed on white stock, with the price present on the front flap
- Twelve-story collection and the first book appearance of Harley Quin and Mr
- Satterthwaite
- Publisher imprint reads William Collins
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Agatha Christie |
| Publisher | William Collins |
| Year | 1930 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | UK Collins (Crime Club) published 14 April 1930 in original black cloth with a pictorial dust jacket |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
UK Collins (Crime Club) published 14 April 1930 in original black cloth with a pictorial dust jacket; US Dodd, Mead followed later in 1930 (290 pp) in peach cloth with black lettering to the spine and front board, cream-and-orange endpapers, and — distinctively — a yellow-paper-stock dust jacket, the only Dodd, Mead Christie jacket not printed on white stock, with the price present on the front flap. Twelve-story collection and the first book appearance of Harley Quin and Mr. Satterthwaite.

## Is this the true first?
UK Collins (14 April 1930) precedes the US Dodd, Mead edition, so the Collins black-cloth issue is the true first.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later printings follow; the Dodd, Mead US first carried no later-printing statement and is identified by its yellow-stock jacket and peach cloth, points that distinguish it from reprints.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Mysterious Mr. Quin* by Agatha Christie a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-mysterious-mr-quin
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.