Come, Tell Me How You Live

London: Collins, 1946. First edition. Cloth. Very Good. 8" by 5". Not Stated. A vanishingly scarce signed first edition of this evocative travel memoir by Agatha Christie. Signed and dedicated to her secretary and friend, Carlo Fisher. The first edition, first impression with no further impressions stated. With a dedication from Christie to the front free endpaper reading:'Carlo with love from Agatha'From the library of Charlotte 'Carlo' Fisher with her bookplate to front paste down. Hired as a governess for her daughter Rosalind, Fisher would later work as Christie's secretary, transcribing a number of her novels, notably The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, considered the turning point in her literary career. The pair soon became close friends, with Fisher acting as one of very few true confidantes for the often reclusive and shy Agatha. The association of this work is not simply that of an employee of Christie, but of her closest and longest standing friend.Illustrated with a map of Syria and Mesopotamia to the frontispiece, and eight plates.Collated, complete.An exceptional copy of this work with a personal association from the greatest detective writer of all time. An exceptional provenance having passed from the possession of Carlo Fisher to Rolling Stone Charlie Watts.An unusual memoir by Christie, detailing her time spent with her archaeologist husband on digs in Iraq and Syria in the 1930s. Her time there was extremely formative to her writing, with many of her best works written and set in the region. Illustrated throughout. In the original red cloth binding. Externally smart with slight bumping to the extremities and head and tail of the spine. Fading to spine and extremities of boards. Slight cockling to rear board extremities. Internally generally firmly bound although slightly strained in places. Corner of final two leaves has been excised, not affecting the text. Marginal age toning due to paper used. Very Good