La Patience de Maigret

Commissaire Maigret first appeared in four popular novels that the author published under the pseudonyms Georges Sim or Christian Brulls. These novels are not part of the official “Maigret” cycle, because Simenon drew a firm distinction — notably in 1975, a period in which he vigorously suppressed any mention of work predating 1931 — between his illegitimate output (books published under pseudonyms) and his recognized body of work (books published under his own name).

The official cycle comprises 75 novels, 4 collections of short stories and 28 stories published in periodicals. Fifty of these novels were issued by Presses de la Cité, whose cover designs went through four different formats. Beginning with Maigret voyage (published in December 1957), the presentation became standardized, with a uniform colored background featuring a silhouette of the author in profile, wearing a hat and smoking a pipe, from which smoke rings — extending onto the front cover — enclose the author’s name and the title. All titles in this series appeared as numbered first editions printed on fine paper, with the deluxe and ordinary printings sharing the same imprint (achevé d’imprimer).