Dust-jacket illustration of the first UK edition
Star Over Bethlehem is an illustrated book of poetry and short stories on a religious theme by crime writer Agatha Christie. It was published under the name "Agatha Christie Mallowan" (whose only other book to be published under this by-line was the 1946 short autobiography Come, Tell Me How You Live). It was published in the UK by Collins on 1 November 1965 in an edition priced at thirteen shillings and sixpence (13/6) and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in an edition retailing at $3.00 probably also in November that year.[1] The book is sometimes listed as "Star over Bethlehem: Christmas and Holiday Stories" or "Star over Bethlehem: Christmas Stories and Poems" but the title page of the first edition states "Star over Bethlehem and other stories".
The volume contains five poems and six short stories, all on the theme of Christianity. Some of the poems can be taken as comments or epilogues on the short stories (e.g. Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh refers to the gifts in the stable which The Naughty Donkey in the preceding story attempts to eat). Although relatively unknown, this work, when referred to at all, is often stated as being for children; however the stories it contains are firmly aimed at an adult audience and with adult themes, especially for 1965. For instance, in the story The Water Bus, Mrs Hargreaves’s cleaner tries to offload her woes to her employer, the main one of which is that her daughter is dying in hospital after an illegal abortion went wrong.
Little is known of the reasons for the writing of the contents of this book, however Christie is known to have retained strong religious beliefs throughout her life. She is also said to have been pleased with Collins' plans for the publication and its illustrations by Elsie Wrigley and pleased at the reception of the book and, for once, requests for it to be autographed.
The binding of the UK edition of Star over Bethlehem with an illustration by Elsie Wrigley
Contents[]
- A Greeting (poem)
- Star Over Bethlehem
- A Wreath for Christmas (poem)
- The Naughty Donkey
- Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh (poem)
- The Water Bus
- In the Cool of the Evening
- Jenny by the Sky (poem)
- Promotion in the Highest
- The Saints of God (poem)
- The Island
2009 HarperCollins edition[]
HarperCollins issued a reproduction edition in 2009 with three books in one volume comprising the original Star over Bethlehem as well as the poems from The Road of Dreams and Poems. In 2014, HarperCollins also issued a special 50th anniversary edition. This one included the poem In a Dispensary which had not been published since 1924.[2]
Publication history[]
- 1965, Collins Crime Club (London), 1 November 1965, Hardback, 80 pp
- 1965, Dodd Mead and Company (New York), 1965, Hardback, 80 pp
- 1991, Berkley Books, 1991, Paperback ISBN 0-425-13229-3
- 1992, Fount Books, October 1992, Paperback ISBN 0-00-627664-4
- 1996, Bantam Books, 1996, Paperback, ISBN 0-553-35104-4
The title story was first published in the monthly Woman's Journal issue for December 1946.