The Mysterious Affair At Styles by CHRISTIE, [Dame] Agatha (1890-1976)

New York: The National Book Co. Publishers, 1920. [Crime fiction] U.S. Second edition, prior to the British edition. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.296; [4], blank, being the John Lane first edition sheets with National's own title page (which is a cancel). Publisher's pale blue cloth decoratively blocked in blue. No ink inscriptions, contents generally clean, title leaf toned (printed on different paper stock), rear joint pulled. Covers are mottled/spotted, spine with an area of browning, rubbed to spine ends and extremities. A good-very good copy of a rare book. A most uncommon and important edition of her debut novel, which precedes the first London edition (Bodley Head, 1921). The first U.S. edition was issued by John Lane (1920). The book was not a best-seller and they published no further Christie titles (Dodd Mead released her second and subsequent books with much success, and also bought her first title from Lane). Indeed, such was the lukewarm initial response, John Lane moved some of their unsold sheets to Ryerson Press of Toronto (for the Canadian first edition), and the remainder were sold cheaply to National Book Co. later that year (per the present copy). The first U.K. edition did not appeared until 1921, published by Bodley Head.