Description
First edition, first printing of To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, with a tipped-in signature from September 1960. In the publisher’s first issue dust jacket.
Octavo, 296pp. Brown hardcover, title stamped in brown on green cloth spine. Stated “First Edition” on copyright page. Light scattered foxing to rear endpapers, some toning at headband along the spine, internally clean.
In the publisher’s first issue dust jacket, with a retail price of $3.95 on the front flap, a blurb from Jonathan Daniels printed on rear flap, and a photo of Harper Lee taken by Truman Capote on the rear panel. Conservative tissue restoration at the head and tail of the spine, colors retouched along the spine. Housed in a custom box, green morocco spine, marbled boards, title stamped on the spine.
This copy is signed by Harper Lee on a tipped-in front free endpaper, three months after publication of the book.
Inscription reads: “To Mr. Hardee Johnston / with my best wishes / Harper Lee / September 14, 1960.”
The first printing of To Kill a Mockingbird consisted of 5,000 copies published by J.P. Lippincott on July 11, 1960. The novel had been on the New York Times Bestseller list for 41 weeks when it was honored with the 1961 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. The first issue dust jacket was designed by Shirley Smith. The rear panel features a portrait of Harper Lee taken by Truman Capote. The two were neighbors in their hometown of Monroeville, Alabama, and remained lifelong friends. Capote aided in the publication of To Kill a Mockingbird by recommending literary agent Maurice Crain to Lee in 1956.
