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39 CHRISTIE, Agatha. The Mysterious Affair at Styles. London: John Lane, The Bodley Head; John Lane Company, New York, 1921 Octavo. Original brown cloth, titles and art nouveau decorations to spine and front cover in black, top edge black. Housed in a custom black morocco solander box with decorative gilt tooling and brown morocco onlay. Slight wear to extremities, small repair to foot of front joint, partial split to rear joint but holding, minor abrasions to covers, faint foxing to endpapers and edges, a very good, remarkably fresh, copy of this poorly-produced volume. first uk edition of christie’s first novel and poirot’s dÉbut. Inspired by the sight of refugees in Torquay, the poisons she encountered while working in a local hospital for the Voluntary Aid Detachment, and a challenge from her sister Madge, Christie embarked on this detective story in 1914. “Rejected by two publish- ers The Mysterious Affair at Styles went on to John Lane at the Bodley Head, who acknowledged its receipt but, for the next two years, said no more” ( ODNB ). It was eventually published by Lane in the US in 1920, and in the UK in 1921, and was printed on cheap, poor quality stock, and bound in thin cloth, meaning copies in such good condition are highly uncommon. Christie went on to be the best-selling novelist of all time. £7,500 [128803] 40 CHRISTIE, Agatha. Hubert Gregg’s archive of typescripts, autograph manuscripts, and letters relating to the plays of Agatha Christie; including The Hollow , The Mousetrap , The Unexpected Guest , and Rule of Three (“The Rats”, “Afternoon at the Seaside”, and “The Patient”). 1953–72 Together 15 items, 1 printed book, 3 complete typescripts, 7 autograph let- ters signed from Christie to Gregg (most with original envelopes), menu signed by Christie and 21 cast members of The Mousetrap , a Christmas card sent from Christie to Gregg, an original playbill for The Hollow, and pro- gramme for Rule of Three . Slight rubbing to extremities, joint of T he Hollow cracked but holding; a remarkably well-preserved archive. A superb collection of material, illuminating Christie’s relation- ship with her director and producer over the course of five plays
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and two decades. The archive and correspondence, spanning near- ly 20 years, includes three Christie plays in typescript, each one the director’s working copy with extensive revisions to the text, notes on staging and lighting, often with related notes, manuscript re- visions and correspondence between Gregg, Agatha Christie, and the producer Peter Saunders; Gregg’s own copy of The Mousetrap , inscribed and presented to him by Christie on the occasion of “our sixth birthday”; and Christie’s holograph manuscript for the end- ing of “The Patient”, the last play in Rule of Three . The typescripts in particular document the process from cast- ing to opening night in great detail, the contributions and opin- ions of the director and producer recorded at each point, but with little doubt as to who had the final say. Hubert Gregg (1914–2004) was one of the most steadily successful theatrical all-rounders of his generation; a broadcaster and light comedian, a Shakespearean actor, a director of comedies and thrillers, and a composer of hun- dreds of songs—including “Maybe It’s Because I’m a Londoner” and “I’m Going to Get Lit Up When the Lights Go Up In London”. He was director of five Agatha Christie plays, including The Mouse- trap for seven years of its record-breaking run, from 1953 (it was first staged on 6 October 1952, directed by Peter Cotes). In his own words “three were smash hits, one had a modest run and the oth- er was a flop”. Gregg described his experiences in his book, Agatha Christie and All That Mousetrap (Kimber, 1980). A full list of contents is available on our website or by request. £16,000 [110880]
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