Agatha Christie – The Labours of Hercules – Complete first appearance in The Strand Magazine, November 1939 – September 1940.
£2,250.00
Eleven consecutive issues of The Strand Magazine containing the complete first appearance of Agatha Christie’s celebrated Poirot sequence The Labours of Hercules. Original pictorial wrappers throughout. Housed in three custom-made storage boxes.
A well-preserved wartime run. Spines show the expected rubbing and occasional splitting, with some staple rusting and minor losses at spine ends. Covers lightly creased and rubbed, with moderate foxing to issues 590 and 593, a chipped corner to issue 593, and a few light stains to the covers of issue 594. Scattered pencil and pen markings to wrappers. Internally generally clean, with only light toning. The Christmas issue is somewhat more worn than the others, but the set remains remarkably square and attractive overall—an uncommon survival in any condition.
Christie’s celebrated re-imagining of the Twelve Labours of Hercules first appeared here between November 1939 and September 1940, each instalment featuring Hercule Poirot applying his uniquely rational methods to modern equivalents of the ancient hero’s trials. The stories appeared as:
The Nemean Lion (November 1939); The Lernean Hydra (December 1939); The Arcadian Deer (January 1940); The Erymanthian Boar (February 1940); The Augean Stables (March 1940); Birds of Ill Omen (April 1940); The Cretan Bull (May 1940); The Horses of Diomedes (June 1940); The Girdle of Hippolyte (July 1940); The Flock of Geryon (August 1940); and The Apples of Hesperides (September 1940).
The first book appearance would not follow until 1947, when Christie added a twelfth story, The Capture of Cerberus, omitted from the original magazine sequence after being rejected by The Strand. As such, this set represents the complete original publication of the work as contemporary readers encountered it.
The magazines are additionally notable for contributions from several distinguished contemporaries, including P. G. Wodehouse, Graham Greene and Heath Robinson. Of particular interest is a wartime photographic cartoon in the March 1940 issue depicting the classical sculpture Laocoön with the faces of Hitler, Goering and von Ribbentrop.
Complete sets are rarely encountered. Produced as magazines intended for casual reading and disposal, and published during the difficult years of the Second World War, survival rates are understandably low. A scarce and highly desirable Christie item, representing one of the most important serial appearances in the Poirot canon.
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- Description
Description
Eleven consecutive issues of The Strand Magazine containing the complete first appearance of Agatha Christie’s celebrated Poirot sequence The Labours of Hercules. Original pictorial wrappers throughout. Housed in three custom-made storage boxes.
A well-preserved wartime run. Spines show the expected rubbing and occasional splitting, with some staple rusting and minor losses at spine ends. Covers lightly creased and rubbed, with moderate foxing to issues 590 and 593, a chipped corner to issue 593, and a few light stains to the covers of issue 594. Scattered pencil and pen markings to wrappers. Internally generally clean, with only light toning. The Christmas issue is somewhat more worn than the others, but the set remains remarkably square and attractive overall—an uncommon survival in any condition.
Christie’s celebrated re-imagining of the Twelve Labours of Hercules first appeared here between November 1939 and September 1940, each instalment featuring Hercule Poirot applying his uniquely rational methods to modern equivalents of the ancient hero’s trials. The stories appeared as:
The Nemean Lion (November 1939); The Lernean Hydra (December 1939); The Arcadian Deer (January 1940); The Erymanthian Boar (February 1940); The Augean Stables (March 1940); Birds of Ill Omen (April 1940); The Cretan Bull (May 1940); The Horses of Diomedes (June 1940); The Girdle of Hippolyte (July 1940); The Flock of Geryon (August 1940); and The Apples of Hesperides (September 1940).
The first book appearance would not follow until 1947, when Christie added a twelfth story, The Capture of Cerberus, omitted from the original magazine sequence after being rejected by The Strand. As such, this set represents the complete original publication of the work as contemporary readers encountered it.
The magazines are additionally notable for contributions from several distinguished contemporaries, including P. G. Wodehouse, Graham Greene and Heath Robinson. Of particular interest is a wartime photographic cartoon in the March 1940 issue depicting the classical sculpture Laocoön with the faces of Hitler, Goering and von Ribbentrop.
Complete sets are rarely encountered. Produced as magazines intended for casual reading and disposal, and published during the difficult years of the Second World War, survival rates are understandably low. A scarce and highly desirable Christie item, representing one of the most important serial appearances in the Poirot canon.
