John Cooper and his wife Margaret have a long history with the world of detective fiction. As avid readers & collectors, they were the duo behind ‘Marjon Books’ – a respected source of first editions for collectors in the 1980s. John Cooper is also well known in detective fiction circles as an author of several authoritative books on the subject. These include Detective Fiction – The Collectors Guide and Artists in Crime – both co-written with B.A. Pike.
Now age 80 and facing health challenges as so many do in later life, John has decided to part with his extensive collection of first edition books amassed over many decades. An online sale will be held by Forum Auctions (UK) on Thursday November 7th, 2024. While the auction lots are not yet available online to see they will be shortly. For now, I can at least share a description of some of the lots, including numerous Agatha Christie titles. But first, a little background on the collection.
Reader turned Collector.
As with many readers of Agatha Christie, John remembers the first book of hers that he read. In 1956, as a 12 year old boy, he went to the library and borrowed The Sittaford Mystery. He was hooked and his love for Christie, and detective fiction in general, was rooted. In the 1960s, John lived in Chelsea while attending college in London. Here he made frequent trips to Foyles Bookstore and began avidly reading and collecting newly printed titles – mostly detective fiction. In 1971, Eric Quayle’s book The Collector’s Book of Books was published and a copy soon found itself in John’s possession.
Reading this book ignited his interest in finding older first editions and the collecting passion began. His first acquisitions were in 1974 and soon he found himself travelling widely seeking more titles to add to his collection. However, soon he and Margaret found they had so many books that selling some became suitable. They launched ‘Marjon Books’ from their home and before long collectors from all over the world were visiting searching for books they needed.
While Agatha Christie titles have always been central to their collection, other much-loved authors include Henry Wade, Clifford Whitting, J.D. Carr, Nicholas Blake, Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham, Cyril Hare and Michael Innes. Now 2000 first editions from this collection are being made available for new homes.
The Agatha Christie Lots.
The auction at Forum Auctions is planned for November 7th and the lots can now all be seen online for fans and collectors alike to view (link). Included is a complete British collection of first edition Agatha Christie books, apart from The Mysterious Affair at Styles. Thus, there are five Bodley Head printings, and the rest are Collins.
All the books post 1940 are in their dust wrappers. Of the earlier books, only a few are in jackets while most are not. Those with jackets include Cards on the Table, Murder is Easy (also signed), Ten Little N’s, and Dumb Witness. One unique jacketed book is The Thirteen Problems – an exceptionally scarce book to find in a jacket as the Charlie Watts auction showed though now two will have been at auction in a relatively short period. London buses! However, this example is uniquely shod in the pre-production jacket along with the promotional Crime Club band. Pre-production jackets are identical to the first edition jackets but were backed with reinforcing paper to provide for better wear. This was done as they were distributed to Collins’s sales representatives who would then travel to bookstores with samples of the soon to be released titles.
Other hardbacks of note include a first printing of Murder on the Orient Express with its original wrap around band promoting the Crime Club but lacking the jacket. Lord Edgware Dies has parts of the jacket pasted inside the book but does have the wrap around band.
There are a few other printings of note beyond Collins books. The correct first edition of Three Blind Mice (The Mousetrap) printed with Witness for the Prosecution by Walter Black for the Detective Book Club (1948, USA) will also be on offer – another exceptionally scarce book.
Two of the rare wartime Polybooks will be available. They are both two story collections – The Veiled Lady with The Baghdad Chest, plus Problem at Pollensa Bay with Christmas Adventure.
Lastly, there are a number of professionally assembled collections of theatre memorabilia relating to a number of Christie’s plays. Certainly, the auction offers many gems and undoubtedly there will be something for every budget and collector.
NOTE: Images here are not photographs of the actual items. Actual photos of the lots will be on Forum along with complete lot details shortly.
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