Back in 2022, I started profiling collectors so that readers could benefit from seeing how others have chosen to collect Agatha Christie as well as just to enjoy the enthusiasm that radiates from passionate collectors. It has been a while since I've written one of these profiles, so I'm pleased to bring you the latest chapter in this series which is all about Jules Burt. The name may be familiar to many of you as Jules is a highly respected paperback collector, YouTube content creator and is active across most social media platforms.
Paperback Collecting.
Many readers have a paperback collection of their favourite authors. However, a select few transcend to become collectors of paperbacks – those for whom the medium itself is appealing to collect, study and cherish. Jules Burt is one of them – undoubtedly one of the most knowledgeable and experienced collectors of paperbacks – especially British printings. I had the real pleasure of meeting with Jules this month in Devon. We discussed his journey as a collector, viewed his collection and I learnt plenty from his extensive knowledge. Fortunately for fans of paperback collecting, Jules is generous with his knowledge as he shares it broadly through his YouTube Channel – Jules Burt, Collecting and Unboxing (link).
One of the benefits of having these focused conversations is that I get to delve a little deeper into how their collecting bug started, how their journey has evolved and look at some of the gems within their collection – especially Christies. While Jules isn’t exclusively an Agatha Christie collector, the Queen of Crime's books certainly form a significant part of his collection.
The Early Years.
Jules grew up in a family of readers, where his Mum loved reading Agatha Christie and his father enjoyed Ian Fleming, which arguably sowed the seeds for a love of crime and detective fiction in the years to come. In his teenage years, Jules initially enjoyed reading science fiction stories, such as Wyndham’s Day of the Triffids, which was available at his school to read as a Penguin paperback. He also enjoyed action novels such as Fleming’s Bond series, just as his father did. Since he had the collector gene in him, it wasn’t long before he decided to start collecting the books he liked. Noticing that Penguin books were numbered and given that he had several already on his shelf, he first decided to grow the Penguin collection – with an ambitious objective of acquiring first printings of the initial 1000 titles. All of them are sequentially numbered and were published before the advent of ISBN classification. Beyond the Penguins, Jules' other preferred publisher is Pan – who publishes many collectible authors he likes including Ian Fleming and Agatha Christie.
While Pan and Penguin may be the dominant imprints on his shelves, Jules has expanded into collecting many other paperback publishers especially when it is an author he loves. This includes Collins' White Circle and Fontana imprints, which together enabled Collins to remain the dominant publisher for Christie’s works both in hardback and paperback. However, his collection isn’t limited to these imprints as his scope has widened towards paperbacks in general.
The overarching appeal to Jules is the format's effective use of cover art or design, paired with numerous titles he enjoys reading. Another appealing attribute is the overall cost-effectiveness compared to collecting hardbacks. Jules refers to first paperback printings as a ‘poor man’s first edition’. While this is broadly true, there are now certainly many paperbacks that are costly to acquire and exceptionally scarce - many of which are in his expansive collection.
Purple Haze.
As often happens with collectors, the scope of the collecting broadens rapidly if not consciously kept in check. For Jules, this control became difficult given that he had opened a shop in Plymouth, Devon, in the 1990s that sold comics, records, film and television memorabilia, and other collectibles. While the store, named Purple Haze, did sell books, the shop’s merchandise made it easy for Jules to start collecting items beyond books, such as Star Wars & Super Hero memorabilia and television collectibles from shows such as The Simpsons – just to name a few. However, now over 30 years later, these items are finally being moved on to new homes as his focus narrows (a loose term!) to primarily paperbacks.
After Purple Haze, Jules joined Waterstones, the British book-shop chain, and by the early 2000s had become both a buyer and Regional Commercial Manager for the company. This enabled him to continue acquiring appealing hardback books, but also newer paperback printings of the titles he loved.
The Penguin 1000th.
Today, the passion remains primarily paperbacks. In fact, Jules finally completed his collection of the first 1000 Penguin paperbacks. In 2023 there were only four books remaining for him to find (image below of the four that proved hard to obtain) Finally, the journey ended last summer when he obtained the final missing book which was ‘Death on the Borough Council’ by Josephine Bell. After 39 years the collection was complete.
Today, Jules has amassed one of the largest private collections of British paperbacks in the world with over 15,000 paperbacks of which 40% are Penguins. Yet the collection is not complete with some books proving particularly challenging. Example of difficult printings to find include many of The Albatross books as well as war-time specialty editions, such as Penguin’s Forces Book Club and Prisoner of War Book Series.
Focus Collecting.
Beyond collecting first printings from publishers such as Pan, Penguin, White Circle and Fontana, Jules has a few titles for which he has become a self-described ‘focus collector’ where he seeks all the paperback printings of a specific title, including reprints and later editions. Titles in his focus group include Day of the Triffids (John Wyndham), Arial (Andre Maurois) and Third Girl (Agatha Christie).
Asked why he chose Third Girl over other Christie novels that are perhaps more broadly collected, Jules clarified that it is because he really enjoys the book and it has become his favourite Christie to read. As I’ve always said, collect what you love first and foremost rather than what seems in vogue.
Collection Examples.
Digging deep into Jules’ Agatha Christie collection reveals some wonderful items – including six of the exceptionally rare Collins White Circle Services editions – including the one under Christie’s Mary Westmacott pen name - Absent in the Spring - which is rarely ever seen in person.
One of the first 10 Penguins ever published in 1935 was Agatha Christie's The Mysterious Affiar at Styles (No. 6 in the series). Below is Jules copy of this rare title. He also pointed out that the reprint of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (Penguin No. 684) contains an introduction that was not present in first printing, making this version appealing for collectors.
Newer oddities include a 1975 Penguin Crime imprint of The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side. It appears there were only two of these late printings by Penguin Crime – the other being a 1973 printing of Towards Zero. Both have rather odd photographs as covers, but more questionable is how Penguin had the publishing rights to these titles at a time when Fontana was also printing them.
Various Screen Appearances!
On a total tangent, but of interest to Christie-holics like myself, Jules was an extra for the 2008 filming of Towards Zero on Burgh Island starring Geraldine McEwan. He reminds me he had nothing to do with the decision to make turn this into a Miss Marple story! It was an experience he thoroughly enjoyed. While he has been an extra in many other shows, such as Dr. Who, this was his only Christie.
Needless to say, Jules’ knowledge of paperbacks is extensive, and anyone can benefit from it by watching his YouTube channel which has a rich back catalogue and frequent new video releases to enjoy. When I was with Jules, he interviewed me about Agatha Christie for his channel - my own minor Christie-related screen appearance. You can view the video here (link). As you can likely imagine we enjoyed chatting all things Christie – especially paperbacks.
Other News.
The 2025 International Agatha Christie Festival: The festival will be from September 13th - 21st later this year. Most of the Fringe events that are held in the first half of the Festival can now be viewed online and tickets secured. I have already booked my tickets to "Murder on the Dancefloor" being held at Ugbrooke House on Saturday 13th as well as "Tea and Scandal" at Wylam House in Torquay on Sunday 14th. I will also certainly be at the "Mysterious Mix and Mingle" on Wednesday 17th. The Literary festival events will begin on Thursday 18th and run through the end of the Festival. All the Literary events will be made public on Monday 24th March on the Festival's website though I can share that I will be involved in what I think will a truly unique event and I look forward to discussing it further once it's public. Some hints can be found in the picture below with, from left to right, myself, Matt Newbury (Creative Director of the Agatha Christie Festival) and Clare Howe ( Senior Exhibitions and Visitor Experience Co-ordinator at Torre Abbey). Full details about the Festival can be found here (link).
Hercule Poirot's "Problem at Sea": My last article was all about this short story first published in 1936. Over the years it appeared in many varied and collectible publications, and often with a different name. If you haven't had a chance to read that article yet, the link will take you there (link).
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Happy Hunting!
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