Biography

A Pocket Full of Rye (1953) – Agatha Christie | First Edition Identification Guide

Agatha Christie - Pocket Full or Rye 1953 UK
Agatha Christie -Pocket Full or Rye 1953 UK

A Pocket Full of Rye is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 9 November 1953, and in the US by Dodd, Mead & Co. the following year. The UK edition retailed at ten shillings and sixpence (10/6) and the US edition at $2.75. The book features her detective Miss Marple.

Like several of Christie’s novels (e.g., Hickory Dickory Dock and One, Two, Buckle My Shoe) the title and substantial parts of the plot reference a nursery rhyme, in this case “Sing a Song of Sixpence”. Miss Marple travels to the Fortescue home to offer information on the maid, Gladys Martin. She works with Inspector Neele until the mysteries are revealed.

Plot Summary

Publication history

  • 1953, Collins Crime Club (London), 9 November, hardcover, 192 pp.
  • 1954, Dodd Mead and Company (New York), hardcover, 211 pp.
  • 1955, Pocket Books (New York), paperback, 186 pp.
  • 1958, Fontana Books (Imprint of HarperCollins), paperback, 191 pp.

The novel was first serialised, heavily abridged, in the UK in the Daily Express starting on Monday 28 September, running for fourteen instalments until Tuesday 13 October 1953.

The novel was first serialised in the US in the Chicago Tribune in forty-two parts from Monday, 11 January to Saturday, 27 February 1954.

A Pocket Full of Rye – First Edition Book Identification Guide

The books are listed in the order of publication. While the majority of Agatha Christie’s books were first published in the UK. There are many titles that were first published in the US. The title of the book may differs from the UK edition in some cases.

Note about Book Club Editions (BCE) and reprints:

UK: You can see statements of later reprint dates or of book club on the copyright page.

US: The US reprint publishers usually use the same sheets as the first edition and are harder to identify by looking at the title page or the copyright page. One may identify a BCE by looking at the DJ, which doesn’t have a price on top of the front flap and a “Book Club Edition” imprint at the bottom. If the dust jacked is clipped at both the top/bottom of the front flap. You can safely assume it’s a BCE . If the book is missing the dust jacket. Later BCE editions can be identified by its plain boards, while first printings are issued in quarter cloth.

Please refer to the gallery for detailed images of true first edition bindings and dust jackets.

A Pocket Full of Rye – First Edition Dust Jacket Identification Guide

First edition bindings and various dust jacket printings identification.

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