The Under Dog and Other Stories is a short story collection written by Agatha Christie and first published in the United States in 1951, Dodd Mead and Company. The title story was published in booklet form along with Blackman’s Wood (by E. Phillips Oppenheim) in the United Kingdom in 1929 by The Reader’s Library. The first US edition retailed at $2.50.
It contains works from the early days of Christie’s career, all featuring Hercule Poirot. All the stories were published in British and American magazines between 1923 and 1926. All of the stories, save the title story, were to appear again in 1974 in Poirot’s Early Cases.
List of stories
- The Under Dog
- The Plymouth Express
- The Affair at the Victory Ball
- The Market Basing Mystery
- The Lemesurier Inheritance
- The Cornish Mystery
- The King of Clubs
- The Submarine Plans
- The Adventure of the Clapham Cook
Publication history
- 1929, The Reader’s Library (London) (Title Story only)
- 1951, Dodd Mead and Company (New York), Hardback, 248 pp
- 1955, Pocket Books (New York), Paperback, 164 pp
- 1965, Dell Books, Paperback, 192 pp, (Dell number 9228)
The Under Dog and Other Stories – 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.
| Year | Title | Publisher | First edition/printing identification points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1951 | The Under Dog and Other Stories | Dodd, Mead & Co, NY, [1951] | First American edition. Copyright 1926 stated on the copyright page. No statement of later printings. Red boards lettered in black. Price $2.50. |
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.
The Under Dog and Other Stories – First Edition Dust Jacket Identification Guide
First edition bindings and various dust jacket printings identification.
