Over the decades that Agatha Christie stories were first printed there were numerous publishers who first released her books in a paperback format. One of these publishers was Lawrence Spivak’s The American Mercury in New York. This publisher had several imprints that released Christie stories as paperbacks. These included Bestseller Mystery, originally the Bestseller Library (started in 1938), Mercury Mystery (started in 1940) and Jonathan Press Mystery (started in 1942). All three imprints were digest-sized paperbacks - a sample of each is shown below.
Another imprint of Spivak’s was the Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, which began in 1941. Spivak sold The American Mercury in 1950 and under its new ownership, it did not publish any further Christie stories.
This article focuses on the ten Christie titles published by the Mercury Mystery imprint. A prior article reviews the 15 Agatha Christie paperbacks issued by the Bestseller Mystery imprint (link) and a future article will look at the Christie books published by the Jonathan Press Mystery imprint.
It is important to note that most of these titles were published during World War II, a period of time when the US Government imposed restrictions on paper use (as did the UK).
Under these restrictions, The American Mercury paperbacks were limited to 126 pages and there was only so much text they could squeeze on a page. Consequently, their short stories collections often omitted a story that the earlier hardback novel may have contained while their full length novels were often cut down by necessity. As stated by the publisher on the copyright page, "Mercury Mysteries are chosen from the hundreds of mysteries published every year--for their pace, literary quality and readability. Sometimes they are reprinted in full, but more often they are cut to speed up the story - always, of course, with the permission of the author or his Publisher." Each edition will clearly state if abridging took place or not.
The Ten Mercury Mystery Christies.
There were ten Christie titles published under the Mercury Mystery imprint. Most were Poirot stories, though Miss Marple makes two appearances, and one features Superintendent Battle. All sold for 25 cents. They are as follows:
1941: No. 41. Poirot Loses a Client. UK Title: Dumb Witness. This was the first US paperback of this title. The first paperback edition is the 1938 The Albatross printing in Europe.
1941: No. 43. The Murder at the Vicarage. This was the first US paperback of this title. The first paperback edition is the 1936 Collins’ 6d printing.
1941: No. 46. The Incredible Theft, with Triangle at Rhodes and Murder in the Mews. These are the first US paperback appearances of these stories, and they are full and complete. They were only preceded by 1938 The Albatross printing in Europe. Essentially this is the book version of Dead Man’s Mirror (1937, Dodd Mead, US) but without the title story. In the UK this collection was published as Murder in the Mews and Other Stories (1937, Collins, UK).
1942: No. 50. Murder in Mesopotamia. First US paperback. Preceded by Albatross (1937) and Collins (1940). As shown in the images above, the floor plan was reproduced in this paperback.
1942: No. 53. Cards on the Table. First US paperback. Preceded by Albatross (1937).
1942: No. 59. Thirteen at Dinner. UK title: Lord Edgware Dies. First US paperback. Preceded by Albatross (1933) and Collins (1935).
1943: No. 66. Death on the Nile. First US paperback. Preceded by Albatross (1939).
1943: No. 69. The Secret of Chimneys. While it has some minor abridgement, it is the first global paperback edition of this novel.
1945: No. 84. The Moving Finger. First US paperback. Globally, preceded by the 1943 Collins Services Edition.
1946: No. 100. Murder on the Links. First US paperback. The true first paperback of this title is the rare John Lane paperback from 1932.
Credit for the cover art is not overtly given but the art director during these years was designer George Salter, who created about 750 covers in total for Spivak's imprints.
Summary.
For all paperback collectors No. 69 - The Secret of Chimneys is the title to seek as this is the true first paperback of this title, despite some minor reduction in word count. The those seeking the unabridged text, then the 1956 Pan (UK) printing is the first paperback. For US paperback collectors No. 46 - The Incredible Theft with its three short stories is the most desirable as all stories are unabridged, and for paperback collectors in general it is a unique trio in book form. Values for all are currently at typical used book prices for vintage paperbacks. However, since this are primarily war-time titles, many are quite scarce and collectors will have to be patient to complete the collection.
Updates, Subscribe & the Socials.
For those that may have missed my last two research articles, they are as follows:
Agatha Christie and her Cornish stories: link.
Odhams Press's various printings of Christie stories: link.
With regard to this article, do get in contact with me if there's an improvement to be made to this article. I view all my articles as collaborative efforts and want them to be an accurate resource for collectors.
If you are not a subscriber to my website, please consider subscribing here: link. This ensures you receive an email any time I write and post an article. Re: Social Media accounts - do consider following me on X (formerly Twitter) @collectchristie , on BlueSky @collectchristie.bsky.social and on Facebook (link). The content on X and BlueSky is identical, but will vary on Facebook. All should be of interest for any fan of Agatha Christie.
I have lots more articles I'm working on but if there's something you'd like me to consider do let me know by writing to me at: collectchristie@gmail.com
Happy Hunting!
Comments