1960 Inscribed "To Kill A Mockingbird"
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GUEST:
My grandmother was an editor for Lippincott's in New York City, and she is the editor of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird.
APPRAISER:
Let's open this up. And...
GUEST:
May I?
APPRAISER:
Yes.
GUEST:
"To my beloved Tay, with all the love in my heart, Nelle."
APPRAISER:
And then we have To Kill a Mockingbird. It's the first edition.
GUEST:
Good.
APPRAISER:
Now, there are a few things also about the first edition of To Kill a Mockingbird. It was done in 1960, but on the dust jacket, this is in green in the true first edition.
GUEST:
Oh...
APPRAISER:
So that's important. The dust jacket on the book is in good condition.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
It's a little bit worn, but we can live with that. Tell us a little about the signature and your relationship.
GUEST:
Well, we always knew Harper Lee as Nelle. My mother threw some of the best cocktail parties in Tuscaloosa, just down the road a piece. When the book came out, she invited her mother, my grandmother, and Nelle to come down for a party to celebrate the book. I was about six or seven, and I was allowed to go to the cocktail party if I acted like an adult. Well, I gather I did pretty good until I did something wrong, and I got kicked out of the party, and I had to go sit on the back porch. Who comes to sit with me but Nelle.
APPRAISER:
Nelle.
GUEST:
Nelle Harper Lee. And we sat on the back porch and talked for I don't know how long. I don't know what we talked about, but the story has been handed down in my family.
APPRIASER: And how did you happen to get this copy?
GUEST:
Because I inherited it from my grandmother.
APPRAISER:
Well, first of all, when you get into To Kill a Mockingbird, it's one of the most important books of the 20th century.
GUEST:
It certainly is.
APPRAISER:
I mean, it gets into the civil rights, the law, the way it was in the South, and, of course, it's an Alabama item...
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
...and we're in Birmingham. And then not only was the book great, but then the movie was a spectacular movie. I've read a few things about Harper Lee, or Nelle, as you say. First of all, she was surprised the book was a success to start with, and then she said that the screenplay and the script and Gregory Peck were probably one of the best adaptations. Because usually authors hate the adaptations from their book.
GUEST:
Yes, they do.
APPRAISER:
But this one was fabulous. And it really has become an iconic item. Do you have a sense of what you think it might be worth?
GUEST:
Not really. I mean, I would like to think that it's worth a few hundred dollars. I mean, because they have printed this book many, many, many times.
APPRAISER:
Well, but it's...
GUEST:
Even though this is the first.
APPRAISER:
This is the first, and it's not only inscribed, but it's inscribed to her editor. You can't produce a good book without a good editor. It's easily, retail... $12,000 to $15,000.
GUEST:
Uh-uh.
APPRAISER:
And then...
GUEST:
Be still my heart.
APPRAISER:
This is one of those that it's not going to go down, it will probably go higher. So give me a little time, and I'd up it a little for you.
GUEST:
(laughing)
APPRAISER:
But it's a fabulous book. A first edition, if you had it in this condition without the inscription and signature, would probably be $6,000 to $8,000.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
That inscription and signature, I mean, it's just fabulous.
GUEST:
It is.
APPRAISER:
It's one of the best you could get. I suppose if her next door neighbor was inscribed to Truman Capote, people might like that. But this is probably a very close second to that.
GUEST:
Good deal.
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