The Venice Simplon-Orient-Express Limited Edition Printings.

A few of Agatha Christie's novels have reached beyond even her most casual of fans to find a broad audience and become part of popular culture. First published in 1934, her novel 'Murder on the Orient Express' is certainly one such example. With its plot inspired by true events, a denoument that is one of the most creative and classic in detective fiction, and its setting aboard the Orient-Express train, the novel is one of her most widely read. With numerous film productions and a relatively new stage adaptation, it continues to reach new audiences. Agatha and her husband, Max, attended the 1974 Premiere of the film (image below left) - though it was not produced for the stage during her lifetime (centre image).

For collectors, the true first edition is exceptionally hard to find and expensive (above right) - even without a dust jacket. For those interested in learning more about the first printing and collecting tips, see my other detailed article on this novel (link).

The novel has also certainly driven a nostalgic appeal for the train itself. Many fans of Christie's novel dream of taking a journey on the Orient-Express and for those that are willing to splurge on a pricey trip, the experience is still available.

Even in Christie's younger life, the train was something people wanted to experience, as we learn from her autobiography.

‘All my life I had wanted to go on the Orient-Express. When I travelled to France or Spain or Italy, the Orient-Express had often been standing at Calais, and I had longed to climb up into it. Simplon – Orient – Express – Milan, Belgrade, Stamboul…

‘Next morning I rushed round to Cook’s, cancelled my tickets for the West Indies, and instead got tickets and reservations for a journey on the Simplon-Orient-Express to Stamboul; from Stamboul to Damascus; and from Damascus to Baghdad across the desert. I was wildly excited.’

- Agatha Christie, from An Autobiography.

When Christie decided to write a novel set aboard the train, the idea was clearly influenced by true events. In 1929, the Orient Express train was stuck in a snow drift in Thrace, an historic region that is now in the present-day southeastern Bulgaria (Northern Thrace), northeastern Greece (Western Thrace), and the European part of Turkey (Eastern Thrace). This event was newsworthy and images of it were found in many publications. Clearly this real life event caught Agatha Christie’s attention.

The enduring appeal of this novel and its 1974 film certainly influenced the revival of the historic train experience by James Sherwood in the late 1970s. Sherwood was a British-based American businessman who made his fortune in sea shipping containers. In 1977 he married Shirley Cross, a bioscientist, and together one of their hobbies was collecting vintage railway carriages. When rolling stock of the disbanded Orient Express came up for auction, Sherwood conceived the idea of recreating the service. After many years of tracking down original rolling stock and spending millions, they relaunched the Simplon Orient Express to Venice in 1982 and the rest is history.

As the appeal of the new Venice Simplon-Orient-Express train grew in popularity, collectibles related to the train started to appear for purchase. From 1995 ownwards, included in these collectibles were special printings of 'Murder on the Orient Express' published by HarperCollins specially for the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express company. Most of these items, including books, were sold in the boutique, which is located in the "Côte d'Azur" car. The boutique sells a variety of items, including jewelry, scarves, ties, souvenirs, and more.

All items can be posted to the passengers' homes by the staff avoiding the need to lug them home. Today, the Orient Express company also sells items online, though currently special printings of the novel no longer appear to be being published.

For fans of both Christie’s novel and the nostalgia of the train, the limited-edition 'VSOE' printings of Murder on the Orient Express are fun and affordable collectibles to seek. While my research undoubtedly has some gaps in it, the first limited edition printing appears to have been in 1995 and the last appears to have been in 2013. Over the years different cover designs were created - some strikingly attractive - but only one version appears to have been issued in a dust jacket. Editions were mostly limited to 500 or 1000 printings, though the jacketed printing does not state its run size. Since there does not appear to be a printing each year, my hypothesis is that in the early years the Orient Express Company would only sell copies on the train and would wait to reorder under the prior stock sold out. Beginning in 2009 there was a new printing each year through 2013 and I assume sales also occurred online. Why there has been no printing since 2013 is unclear. Any insights are most welcome.

The Editions.

1995: This printing was limited to 500 copies. This gilt-edged book has blue covers embossed in gold with the logo and name of Venice Simplon-Orient-Express. It also has a blue bookmark ribbon (image above left).

1998: This printing was limited to 500 copies. Its covers in blue are embossed with the logo and name of Venice Simplon-Orient-Express (image above centre). Stylistically it is very similar to the 1995 printing but lacking the diagonal gold lines across the corners.

1999: This printing was limited to 1,000 copies. Its blue boards have a small image of the train, similar in design to the opening credits for the Poirot television series featuring David Suchet. It also has Christie’s name, the title of the book and the VSOE logo present on the cover (image above right).

2005: This ‘special’ printing does not have a defined print run size. The orange boards are imprinted with a black silhouette of the train that matches the design on the dust jacket cover (images above left and centre). While the cover of the jacket shows the train leaving a train station, the rear design shows a character in her room, all in an art-deco style (image above right). A gold-coloured bookmark ribbon is also present.

2009: Version 1: This printing was limited to 500 copies. The covers (front and rear) show two swallow-like birds over a moon-like disc, with one floral element. The floral element is a sprig with numerous white flowers or flower buds on it (image above left). The book is gilt-edged with a yellow ribbon bookmark.

2009: Version 2: This printing was limited to 1,000 copies. The covers (front and rear) are very similar to Version 1 with two swallow-like birds over a moon-like disc, and with one floral element. However, here the floral element is more stylistic, with curly stems and a single flower with three white leaves (image above right).

My uneducated hypothesis is that Version 1 came first and sold out, requiring a second print run. Because they are sold as "limited editions", the design element needed to change.

2010: This printing was limited to 1,000 copies. The gilt-edged book has blue covers with a design of vertical gold-foil stalks with cream leaves on both the front and rear (image above left).

2011: This printing was limited to 1,000 copies. The cover design is an evolution of the 2010 design - though now the stalks are curly (images above centre -front panel - and above right - rear panel).

2012: This printing was limited to 1,000 copies. The blue front cover features floral design elements perhaps inspired by the Lalique glass present in some of the carriages. The middle of the rear cover is also decorated with their logo. Consistent wit the other books the title page states the edition size (all three images above).

2013: This printing was also limited to 1,000 copies. The gilt-edged book has art-deco style lettering in a circular motif perhaps inspired by the front of the train's engine or to symbolise wheels. As with many books, there is a replica of Christie’s autograph at the foot of the cover. The title page is consistent with the other books, and the design is repeated on the rear cover (all images above).

Values.

These books can be found for sale across a wide range of pricing, but generally most are fairly priced around £50-75 ($65 - $100). Logically those with edition sizes of only 500 should command a premium. The 2005 edition, while the print size is unknown, is also worthy of a premium for being the only jacketed edition. These premiums could be up to a further 25-50% above the typical prices. That said, patient collectors may find a bargain appear periodically as I've seen every so often. For me, these are attractive, unique printings of this title. I think they would make an exceptional gift for any Christie fan as it's probable they are editions they don't already have in their library.

Corrections Welcome: 

As always, if you have any additions, corrections or comments, please email me at collectchristie@gmail.com . I expect there are editions I may have missed and reader input helps make these articles more interesting & accurate. For example, I am currently unaware of printings in 1996, 1997, 2000-2004, or from 2006-2008. It is probable they do not exist, but if any readers have a book from that period please, or after 2013, send me images and the edition size so that I can add it to the article.

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