Maigret et le Fantôme

Commissaire Maigret first appeared in four popular novels published by the author under the pseudonyms Georges Sim or Christian Brulls. These novels are not included in the official “Maigret” cycle, because Simenon established — notably in 1975, a period when he was fiercely suppressing any work predating 1931 — a distinction between his illegitimate work (published under pseudonyms) and his recognized work (published under his own name).

The official cycle comprises 75 novels, 4 collections of short stories and 28 short stories (published in periodicals); 50 of these novels were published 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 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 — contain the author’s name and the title: every title in this series was issued as a numbered first edition printed on fine paper, with the deluxe and ordinary printings sharing the same colophon.