Post-Sale Auction Results: The John Cooper Collection

On 7th November 2024, Forum Auctions in the UK held a substantial sale of detective fiction books from the library of John Cooper.  Within these were over 60 Agatha Christie lots, many with multiple items in the lot.  For a preview of the sale and insights into John Cooper, please see my preview article (link).

While John Cooper is a respected collector and knowledgeable authority, his prior ownership does not bring the same enhanced value that Charlie Watts’ provenance did by being the famous Rolling Stones drummer. Thus, these sale prices are solid guides as to the value of a particular book for its given condition. This auction is also helpful for valuations as most books were unjacketed (as many collectors books are!) and only one was signed. 

For those interested in reviewing my price guide for books with and without jackets in ‘very good’ condition, please click here (link). It is worth noting that my price guide will be significantly different than the auction house’s own estimates as they commonly understate value in advance of a sale to generate interest.

Of note when looking at auction prices, it is important to know that auction houses add a Buyer's Premium to the hammer price. For Forum, there was a 26% Buyer’s Premium. All auctions have these premiums which do substantially raise the net cost to a buyer. This adjusted total cost with the Buyer’s Premium is shown in parentheses after each lot’s hammer price.

Summary Observations.

When reading the description of the lots be conscious of whether it says 'first edition' or 'first English edition'. Many Christie novels were first published in the US making them the true first editions. However, print runs were often much larger given the population difference and consequently British editions still generally are more expensive to acquire, even if only a 'first English edition'.

For many of the Lots detailed below I have added my own insights beginning with a "CC:"(for Collecting Christie). Overall, the pre-1940 unjacketed books prices realized were broadly in alignment with my price guide, especially when condition is factored in.  Books that sold well above my guide, such as Lot 102’s Poirot Investigates, were usually in near fine condition or came with the wrap-around band. Books that sold well below my guide often had issues, whether frayed cloth, staining or significant wear. For those with the Crime Club wrap-around bands, it appears they added about £500 - £1,000 of value to the lot. Jacketed books from the 1940s (especially pre-1945) and 1950s are continuing to creep higher in value when in very good or better condition. The auction results also imply good value can still be found in Christie's plays & Westmacott novels.

The Lots:

Lot 99. The Secret Adversary, first edition, John Lane the Bodley Head, 1922.

Estimate: £800 - £1,200. Hammer Price: £3,000 (£3,780).

Lot 100. The Murder on the Links, first edition, John Lane the Bodley Head, 1923.

Estimate: £1,500 - £2,000. Hammer Price: £3,600 (£4,536).

Lot 101. The Man in the Brown Suit, first edition, John Lane the Bodley Head, 1924. Estimate: £400 - £600. Hammer Price: £1,200 (£1,512).

Lot 102. Poirot Investigates, first edition, John Lane the Bodley Head, 1924.

Estimate: £1,000 - £1,500. Hammer Price: £4,400 (£5,440).

CC: This was a really very good plus example for its age and it sold for almost 50% more than my price guide estimate. A lovely copy.

Lot 103. The Road of Dreams, first edition, inscribed calling card from the author loosely inserted, Geoffrey Bles, [1925].

Estimate: £250 - £350. Hammer Price: £1,500. (£1,890).

CC: This book is now commanding strong money whenever it appears for sale. While it was lacking the dust jacket, it is still very uncommon and certainly garnering attention.

Lot 104. The Secret of Chimneys, first edition, John Lane the Bodley Head, 1925.

Estimate: £600 - £800. Hammer Price: £1,700 (£2,142).

Lot 105. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, first edition, W. Collins Sons & Co, 1926.

Estimate: £600 - £800. Hammer Price: £1,300 (£1,638).

Lot 106. The Mystery of the Blue Train, first edition, W. Collins Sons & Co, [1928].

Estimate: £300 - £400. Hammer Price: £850 (£1,071).

Lot 107. The Seven Dials Mystery, first edition, W. Collins Sons & Co, 1929.

Estimate: £300 - £400. Hammer Price: £360 (£454).

Lot 108. 'Alibi' in Tit-Bits, no.2511, December 14th, 1929 & other Christie ephemeral material (sml qty).

Estimate: £150 - £200. Hammer Price: £120 (£152).

CC: This was not the first appearance of this short story (The Unbreakable Alibi) from the Partners in Crime collection (not to be confused with the stage play of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd). It first appeared in a British magazine - Holly Leaves - in 1928. Thus, the lower value realised here.

Lot 109. Partners in Crime, first edition, W. Collins Sons & Co, 1929.

Estimate: £200 - £300. Hammer Price: £340 (£428).

Lot 110. The Murder at the Vicarage, first edition, The Crime Club, 1930. Estimate: £600 - £800. Hammer Price: £1,300 (£1,638).

CC: This was not the first state of the first edition which is in black cloth and solely states Collins at the foot of the spine. While this was the first Crime Club novel, the change to orange cloth with The Crime Club imprinting on the spine only occurred after all the black cloth boards had been bound. Both are highly collectible but I believe the first state to be more valuable.

Lot 111. The Mysterious Mr. Quin, first edition, W. Collins Sons & Co., 1930.

Estimate: £200 - £300. Hammer Price: £500 (£630).

Lot 112. The Sittaford Mystery, first English edition, The Crime Club, 1931; and the true first edition of the same [. Estimate: £400 - £600. Hammer Price: £600 (£756).

CC: The US printing under the title The Murder at Hazelmoor was printed in July, two months earlier than the Collins version. It is also the first time a different title was used for the American market.

Lot 113. The Thirteen Problems, first edition, The Crime Club, 1932.

Estimate: £15,000 - £20,000. Hammer Price: £25,500 (£32,130).

CC: While it didn’t reach the lofty heights that this title garnered in the Charlie Watts sale, that book benefited from its association to Watts and by being first to market. Then The Thirteen Problems hadn’t shown at auction in arguably decades, and at the time no one knew another would show within a year.

Lot 114. Peril at End House, first English edition, The Crime Club, 1932. Estimate: £300 - £400. Hammer Price: £600 (£756).

Lot 115. The Hound of Death and Other Stories, first edition, [Odhams] 1933.

Estimate: £150 - £200. Hammer Price: £440 (£554).

CC: The reprint rights of this title were assigned to Collins in exchange for Odham gaining the reprint rights for The Murder in the Mews. Since Odhams copies of The Hound of Death are ubiquitous they often sell for significantly less than this hammer price. However, the jackets are commonly missing a piece of the spine, so the bidder here clearly was willing to pay up for a complete jacket. The later Collins printings are much rarer and will command a lot more money despite being reprints.

Lot 116. Lord Edgware Dies, first edition, with original wraparound band, The Crime Club, 1933.

Estimate: £750 - £1,000. Hammer Price: £1,600 (£2,016).

Lot 117. Why Didn't They Ask Evans?, first edition, The Crime Club, 1934.

Estimate: £200 - £300. Hammer Price: £500 (£630).

Lot 118. The Listerdale Mystery and other stories, first edition, Collins, 1934.

Estimate: £300 - £400. Hammer Price: £420 (£530).

Lot 119. Parker Pyne Investigates, first edition, Collins, 1934.

Estimate: £300 - £400. Hammer Price: £800 (£1,008).

CC: Both 118 & 119 were published under the Collins Mystery imprint, rather than the Crime Club, and were shod in plum-coloured cloth with silver lettering. These are the only two Christie titles published as such.

Lot 120. Murder on the Orient Express, first edition, with original wraparound band, The Crime Club, 1934. Estimate: £800 - £1,200. Hammer Price: £3,600 (£4,536).

CC: The sale confirmed the strong value of this title without its jacket. I’ve written in great detail about why this book is so valuable. Aside from being one of her most famous novels, and thus collected by a broader market, it also appears to have been printed in a surprisingly small print run initially. For more details about this print history and collecting this book go to this link.

Lot 121. Three Act Tragedy, first English edition, The Crime Club, 1935. Estimate: £200 - £300. Hammer Price: £360 (£454).

Lot 122. Death in the Clouds, first English edition, The Crime Club, 1935. Estimate: £300 - £400. Hammer Price: £480 (£605).

Lot 123. The ABC Murders, first edition, The Crime Club, 1936. Estimate: £400 - £600. Hammer Price: £500 (£630).

Lot 124. Murder in Mesopotamia, Death on the Nile, Appointment with Death; first editions, Collins Crime Club, 1936, 1937 & 1938 respectively (3).

Estimate: £400 - £600. Hammer Price: £1,900 (£2,394).

CC: I'm often befuddled by how auction houses group lots. One such as this is clearly a 'dealer lot' - created to benefit the trade as most individual collectors wouldn't need, or want to pay for, all three. That the lot sold for essentially four times the auction house estimate also shows they had failed to recognize that Death on the Nile is broadly collected and a marquee title to own, plus most Collins books from the 1930s are selling individually for over £300 anyway.

Lot 125. Cards on the Table, first edition, The Crime Club, 1936.

Estimate: £2,000 - £3,000. Hammer Price: £2,200 (£2,772).

CC: Sadly the jacket was trimmed (shorter) and had meaningful flaws. Trimmed jackets have significantly less value because they are often married from library editions that had different size hard covers. Thus, they are not always original to the book, don’t fit quite right and naturally lack some of the jacket design. For these reasons, this lot sold well below what an original 'very good' jacket would have realized which likely should be nearer £10,000.

Lot 126. Murder in the Mews, first English edition, The Crime Club, 1937.

Estimate: £300 - £400. Hammer Price: £900 (£1,134).

CC: The only non-archaelogical jacket designed by Christie's friend Robin 'Mac' Macartney. As a shorter-story collection the book appears to have been published in a smaller print run making it a scarce title to find. In addtion, because the reprint rights of this book were assigned to Odhams, who printed the title voluminously, the are no later Collins jackets that can be married to a true first book, making the jacket (not present here) incredibly scarce.

Lot 127. Dumb Witness, first edition, The Crime Club, 1937.

Estimate: £3,000 - £4,000. Hammer Price: £7,000 (£8,820).

CC: This jacket had a fair amount of edgewear, creasing and chipping impacting its value – though this was well bought even at this price. It's one of my favourite jackets.

Lot 128. Hercule Poirot's Christmas, first edition, The Crime Club, 1939. Estimate: £200 - £300. Hammer Price: £650 (£819).

Lot 129. Murder is Easy, first edition, signed by the author, The Crime Club, 1939.

Estimate: £3,000 - £4,000. Hammer Price: £4,600 (£5,796).

Lot 130. Ten Little N’s [And Then There Were None], first edition, The Crime Club, 1939. Estimate: £600 - £800. Hammer Price: £4,200 (£5,292).

Lot 131. Sad Cypress, first edition, The Crime Club, 1940.

Estimate: £200 - £300. Hammer Price: £200 (£252).

Lot 132. One Two Buckle My Shoe, first edition, The Crime Club, 1940.

Estimate: £500 - £700. Hammer Price: £800 (£1,008).

Lot 133. Evil Under the Sun, first edition, The Crime Club, 1941.

Estimate: £700 - £900. Hammer Price: £1,800 (£2,268).

CC: The last of the thicker Collins printings. Even this title can be found in a slightly thinner printing as a second state, though from N or M? onwards the books are all impacted by paper shortages due to the war.

Lot 134. N or M?, first English edition, The Crime Club, 1941.

Estimate: £200 - £300. Hammer Price: £600 (£756).

Lot 135. The Body in the Library, first English edition, The Crime Club, 1942.

Estimate: £300 - £400. Hammer Price: £650 (£819).

Lot 136. Five Little Pigs, first English edition, The Crime Club, 1942.

Estimate: £200 - £300. Hammer Price: £850 (£1,071).

CC: A lovely near fine, bright copy - well worth the price paid.

Lot 137. The Moving Finger, first English edition, The Crime Club, 1943.

Estimate: £300 - £400. Hammer Price: £300 (£378).

Lot 138. The Problem at Pollensa Bay, Todd Publishing Company, [1943].

Estimate: £400 - £600. Hammer Price: £800 (£1,008).

Lot 139. The Veiled Lady and The Baghdad Chest, Polybooks, 1944.

Estimate: £400 - £600. Hammer Price: £800 (£1,008).

CC: Both 138 and 139 are exceptionally uncommon wartime printings. Along with Vallancey Press, Todd / Polybooks printings rarely ever show for sale. These were new price records for these publishings. If you are interested in learning more about these small wartime printings, click this link.

Lot 140. Towards Zero, first English edition, The Crime Club, 1944.

Estimate: £200 - £300. Hammer Price: £340 (£428).

Lot 141. Ten Little N's, first playscript edition, Samuel French Limited, 1944 & a small collection of plays and theatre production email by and relating to Christie (sml qty).

Estimate: £150 - £200. Hammer Price: £150 (£189).

CC: Well bought. Plays are underappreciated as collectibles as deciphering what a first printing is can be hard. I have written a series of articles on Christie's plays - one on original plays, one on those she adapted from her stories, and one on adaptations by others. If you are interested in learning about collecting plays and how to identify the first printings then click here.

Lot 142. Death Comes as the End, first English edition, The Crime Club, 1945.

Estimate: £150 - £200. Hammer Price: £320 (£403).

Lot 143. Sparkling Cyanide, first English edition, The Crime Club, 1945.

Estimate: £300 - £400. Hammer Price: £600 (£756).

Lot 144. The Hollow, first English edition, The Crime Club, 1946.

Estimate: £150 - £200. Hammer Price: £380 (£479)

Lot 145. Come Tell Me How You Live, first edition, Collins, 1946 & others by or inspired by Christie (17).

Estimate: £200 - £300. Hammer Price: £160 (£202).

Lot 146. The Labours of Hercules, first English edition, 1947.

Estimate: £150 - £200. Hammer Price: £360 (£454).

CC: The infamous image on the spine that Christie said looked like 'Poirot going naked to the bath'... 'ribald and obscene'.

Lot 147. Taken at the Flood, first English edition, The Crime Club, 1948.

Estimate: £150 - £200. Hammer Price: £220 (£277).

Lot 148. The Witness for the Prosecution and Three Blind Mice, first edition, New York, Detective Book Club, [1948]. Estimate: £600 - £800. Hammer Price: £1,200 (£1,512).

CC: The true first printing of Three Blind Mice - the novella of The Mousetrap. This is the first time I've seen this book appear at auction. It is exceptionally scarce and broadly unknown about, and I believe it well bought at this price.

Lot 149. Crooked House, first English edition, The Crime Club, 1949.

Estimate: £200 - £300. Hammer Price: £160 (£202).

Lot 150. A Murder is Announced, first edition, The Crime Club, 1950.

Estimate: £150 - £200. Hammer Price: £360 (£454).

Lot 151. They Came to Baghdad, first edition, 1951 & others [4:50 From Paddington, Ordeal by Innocence, The Pale Horse] by Christie (4).

Estimate: £200 - £300. Hammer Price: £320 (£404).

Lot 152. Mrs. McGinty's Dead, first English edition, The Crime Club, 1952.

Estimate: £150 - £200. Hammer Price: £300 (£378).

Lot 153. They Do It With Mirrors, first English edition, The Crime Club, 1952.

Estimate: £150 - £200. Hammer Price: £150 (£189).

Lot 154. After the Funeral, first English edition, The Crime Club, 1953.

Estimate: £150 - £200. Hammer Price: £100 (£128).

Lot 155. A Pocket Full of Rye, first edition, The Crime Club, 1953.

Estimate: £150.00 - £200.00. Unsold Lot

Lot 156. Destination Unknown, first edition, The Crime Club, 1954.

Estimate: £150 - £200. Hammer Price: £160 (£202).

Lot 157. Hickory Dickory Dock, first edition, The Crime Club, 1955.

Estimate: £150 - £200. Hammer Price: £240 (£302).

Lot 158. Dead Man's Folly, first English edition, The Crime Club, 1956.

Estimate: £150 - £200. Hammer Price: £120 (£151).

Lot 159. The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding and a Selection of Entrées, first edition, The Crime Club, 1960 & others, short stories by the author (17).

Estimate: £200 - £300. Unsold Lot

Lot 160. The Mirror Crack'd From Side to Side, first edition, 1962 & others, Christie Marple works (6).

Estimate: £200 - £300. Hammer Price: £320 (£404).

Lot 161. The Clocks, first edition, The Crime Club, 1963.

Estimate: £150 - £200. Hammer Price: £220 (£277).

CC: For some reason this jacket is often damaged - likely due to the paper stock used. Consequently, complete 'very good' or better jackets are hard to find. Well bought at this price given the jacket condition here.

Lot 162. Hallowe'en Party, first edition, The Crime Club, 1969 & other Poirot stories (10).

Estimate: £200 - £300. Hammer Price: £480 (£605).

Lot 163. [Christie (Agatha)], "Mary Westmacott". Giant's Bread, first edition, W. Collins Sons & Co, 1930 & others under the pseudonym, a full run of these novels (7).

Estimate: £300 - £400. Hammer Price: £360 (£454).

CC: Very well bought as some of thes printings are quite challenging to find in a jacket. The Rose and the Yew Tree alone was worth the price paid for the whole lot.

Lot 164. Christie (Agatha)- Saunders (Peter) The Mousetrap Man, first edition, signed presentation inscription from the author, Collins, 1972; and Peter Saunders scrap albums for 3 Christie plays (4). Estimate: £100 - £150. Hammer Price: £140 (£176).

CC: A lovely lot for fans of Saunders and Christie's stage work, but clearly not viewed by bidders as valuable. Someone will enjoy looking through this.

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Happy Hunting!