Miss Brent knitting. Illustration for “Ten Little Negres “, 1939 (print)

“Ten Petits Negres “: published in series, the same year it was first published in England (1939) in the French newspaper Paris-Soir, translation by Louis Postiff. This detective novel is one of the best known and most sold of Agatha Christie's books. It is also the most sold of all detective novels in the world. In 2020, the author's heirs and Editions du Masque decide to change the French title of the book to “They were ten”, removing the word “negro” considered offensive. This change of title had already been made in the 1940s in the USA and later in the United Kingdom. In the English language editions, the work was therefore successively entitled “Ten Little Niggers”, then alternately “Ten Little Indians” and “And Then There Were None”. The illustration shows Miss Brent knitting.