AUCTION REVIEW: Forum Auctions 2026-March-26

Forum Auctions hosted an online sale of modern literature on Thursday March 26, 2026. Within the sale were six lots featuring works by Agatha Christie. The books were a mix of first editions and later reprints, mostly with jackets. In advance of this sale, I was consulted by Forum Auctions to assist with identifying these jackets as several were married to earlier books. When this occurs the edition of the donor book is commonly lost and correct identification can be quite challenging. However, what made this group of Christie lots unique is that a major auction house is seeing such strength in the market for Christie books that they are now more receptive to handling later editions and married jackets, and auctioning them as individual lots.

Note: All images below are of the actual books and jackets sold even though some of these pictures did not appear on the Forum Auctions website.

The Christies.

Lot 119: The Secret Adversary. 1922, First edition (no jacket), The Bodley Head, London, UK.

Condition: A few finger soils, light scattered foxing, upper hinge broken with half-title, original dark green cloth lettered and decorated in light green, neat repairs to spine ends, light splitting to upper joint, a few stains.

Pre-auction estimate: £800 - £1,200.

Sold for: £1,080 ($1,435) incl. Buyer's premium.

CC Comments: In my price guide, which is based on prior sales, a 'Very Good' book has a value of £5,000. While this book had some flaws, at this price it was well bought and certainly offered great value. While no jacket was present, it is worth noting that the jacket art changed on later editions by The Bodley Head.

Lot 120: The Mystery of the Blue Train. (1928). Fifth Edition,1929, Wm. Collins, London, UK.

Condition: Rear endpaper pasted to rear pastedown, original blue cloth lettered in black minor bumping to spine tips and corners, dust-jacket priced at 3/6, chip to foot of spine with loss to one letter of imprint with short tear running into upper panel, head of spine and corner tips a little chipped, nick to head of lower panel, extremities a little rubbed, an excellent example, 8vo.

Pre-auction estimate: £600 - £800.

Sold for: £1,780 ($2,370) incl. Buyer's premium.

CC Comments:  While the jacket from the 5th edition looks almost identical to the first state, there are a number of minor differences beyond the price on the spine. Both front and rear flaps are different (referencing 3/6 books vs. 7/6 books on the first state) and on the rear panel the prices of the other two Christie titles are not present (which are 3/6 on the first state). The reason these are worth noting is that it helps avoid unscrupulous 'restoration' of later jackets to reflect an earlier first state 7/6 pricing. Given that a correct first edition book with jacket is fairly valued at £18,000, this is a great alternative for a collector who wants a period book in almost identical artwork given its 90% discount.

Lot 121: Peril at End House. 1932, First edition, The Crime Club, Collins, London, UK.

Condition: Variant black cloth lettered in gold, married to a later 'Popular edition' dust-jacket priced at 3/6, light browning and splash-marks to spine, creasing to spine tips, publisher's 'Popular edition' wraparound band (light browning to spine), a crisp and excellent example, 8vo. An attractive example of the dust-jacket, likely issued in early 1934 for the fifth edition. The variant black cloth indicates that the book was either prepared for the export market or was a second state.

Pre-auction estimate: £600 - £800.

Sold for: £2,285 ($3,050) incl. Buyer's premium.

CC Comments:  This is another example of a jacket that is almost identical the first state jacket. The minor differences are the price on the spine and the books listed on the bottom of the front flap. The correct first state only has two books listed on the flap while this later state has five, including Christie's The Sittaford Mystery. The wrap-around band is also slightly different to the one present on the first edition as this one has 'First Popular Edition' printed on the band. The first state band had no text in that location. Since the value of this first edition book without a wrapper is £500, the price paid here for an almost identical jacket and wrap-around band to the first edition was £1,800. As with Lot 120, this sale represents a 90% discount to the true first jacket.

Lot 122: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. (1926). Eleventh Impression, 1933. Wm. Collins, London, UK.

Condition: Some light spotting, ex-libris bookplate of The Detection Club to front pastedown, original black cloth lettered in blue-green, spotting to spine, dust-jacket priced at 2/6, spine a little dulled, closed tears to head and foot with creasing, surface soiling, 8vo.

Pre-auction estimate: £400 - £600.

Sold for: £700 ($930) incl. Buyer's premium.

CC Comments:  In the 1930s Collins issued many titles in their 'Library Edition' format, one of their first attempts at a uniform style and pricing. The books were still 8vo. size (consistent with first editions) while the jackets were predominantly green though they featured the primary elements of the original art. All were priced 2/6. Given the importance of this title, any vintage jacketed printing will be desirable but the real value here was the bookplate. When this book was published in 1933, The Detection Club was still in its infancy and Agatha Christie was one of its founding members. Consequently, this is an 'Association Copy' which enhances its value significantly making it well bought at this price.

Lot 123: Murder on the Orient Express. 1934, First edition, The Crime Club, Collins, London, UK.

Condition: Small stain to head of fore-edge, original orange cloth lettered in black, light sunning to spine, slight rubbing and bumping to spine tips and corners, light spotting to covers, married second state dust-jacket priced at 3/6, rubbing and creasing to spine tips, rubbing to corner tips, 2 small nicks to head of panels, very light surface soiling to lower panel, small patches of chipping to foot of lower fore-edge and head of lower flap, a near-fine example, 8vo. A superb example of the second state dust-jacket, priced at 3/6 but otherwise identical to the first state, likely produced in early 1935 to accompany the fifth printing.

Pre-auction estimate: £6,000 - £8,000.

Sold for: £10,760 ($14,300) incl. Buyer's premium.

CC Comments:  Unlike some of the other later jackets discussed, this 3/6 version is identical in all aspects to the first except for the price on the spine. If pricing had been placed on the flap, I expect it would have been clipped off to give the impression this was a true first, but since pricing on the spine can't easily be modified without manipulation, this is an excellent way to obtain a jacket for this book. As I've discussed in a separate article (link), the book alone is exceptionally scarce and fairly valued at £4,000, so an extra £6,000 was paid to obtain a jacket that is worth £30,000 more when the 7/6 price is present.

Lot 124: The A.B.C. Murders. 1936, First edition in partial first edition jacket, The Crime Club, Collins, London, UK.

Condition: Book: Spotting, endpapers browned, original orange cloth lettered in black, light sunning to spine, slight bumping to spine tips and corners, extremities rubbed, light finger-soiling. Jacket: Priced at 7/6, lower panel [rear] and flap supplied in excellent facsimile, neat expert repairs and restoration to head and foot of spine and upper panel with imprint at foot of spine supplied in facsimile, horizontal crease to upper panel with faint split to head, a crisp, attractive example,

Pre-auction estimate: £15,000 - £20,000.

Sold for: £12,650 ($16,825) incl. Buyer's premium.

CC Comments:  Since almost half of this jacket is facsimile, estimating pre-sale value was certainly a challenge. While a complete jacketed first is worth well over £25,000, the amount realised here is likely fair. Of note, I am aware of an ABC Murders with the front panel (upper) in facsimile and the rear (lower) is all original... I wonder if that jacket was separated at some stage!

Auction Specifics.

Buyer’s Premium: 27% on the first £5,000, then 26%. There is no VAT on bound books. Forum Auctions are also listed on third party online aggregator platforms: the-saleroom.com, invaluable.com, liveauctioneers.com and others. If you use these sites, note there is generally a 5% surcharge for bidding via these platforms. Shipping costs will be additional and if shipped overseas be aware of potential duties or import fees your home country may apply.

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