Agatha Christie's first work discovered 120 years after publication

The first known work of English writer Agatha Christie was found in a London newspaper 120 years after publication. This was reported by The Times.

The poem by the "queen of detective fiction" was published in a local newspaper in 1905, however, due to inaccuracies in the author's biography, it remained unnoticed for more than a century.

As specified, the 24-line poem titled "Steam versus Electricity" was published on July 8, 1905, in the Ealing and Hanwell Post. Before the text, the editorial staff added an explanation: "A young author has sent us a rhymed response to the electric train breakdown that occurred last Saturday".

It is known that Christie made several mistakes: she indicated that she was 11 years old, although at that time the writer was 14, and she also confused an electric train with a tram. The work was discovered by Christie researchers in September in newspaper archives, after which the author's heirs gave permission for its republication.