In 1960, Lippincott publishers printed a small run of 5,000 books from a little known southern author. The book, To Kill a Mockingbird, would go on to garner its author a Pulitzer prize and eventually a life of seclusion. Without any other titles to her name, today those first run / first edition books can pull in asking prices of almost $30,000 (but deals can be got for under $2,000 if you look hard enough).
As a book lover, I am awestruck and humbled by a society that treasures, not just the story, but the mechanism that carries that story (in this case, paper, book, dust jacket, and slip case).
I recently went searching for a copy of To Kill a Mockingbird - Not a first edition mind you, just a gently used copy that I could scoop up for less than $10 and keep in my library to replace the paperback falling apart on my bookshelf. Once a year I pull it off the shelf and immerse myself in Jem, Scout, Dill, Atticus, and Boo. I certainly didn't want the cheap-o paperback version selling at Barnes and Noble for $7.99, although out of sheer desperation, that's what I ended up with.
For several weeks I'd been visiting the used bookstores in town, scouring the shelves for Harper Lee and not finding a single copy. Not even an old beat up trade paperback. I was amazed, but I wasn't about to shell out $20-30 for a fresh-from-the-warehouse copy. I wanted something that had character - that had a history that was more exciting than a warehouse. But it was not to be.
No one, and I mean no one seems to part with their Mockingbirds. I can't really blame them. I've never owned a copy that wasn't a trade paperback, and even those stay on my shelves until well after they begin to disintegrate. So, if you ever see a used copy of To Kill a Mockingbird - and whether it's the first edition or the 40th Anniversary edition (which by the way, also had a small first print run, so can be worth up to $200) - grab it! Read it! Enjoy it! and become a part of it's history.
- Signed, First Edition / First Printing, Lippincott, Philadelphia, 1960: $27,500.00
- Signed, First U.K. Edition, Heinemann, London, 1960: $11,768.94
- First Edition/First Printing (unsigned): $10,000.00
- First U.K. Edition (unsigned): $1,500.00
- First Edition/Fifth Printing (unsigned): $1,100.00
- First Edition/35th Printing (unsigned + Ex-Library book): $795.00
- 40th Anniversary Edition (unsigned), 1999: $195.00
- First Book Club Edition (unsigned), 1960: $189.50
- First Deluxe Gift Edition (unsigned), 2006: $75.00
- Reader's Digest Condensed Book/First Ed (unsigned), 1961: $50.00
- 50th Anniversary Edition: $25.00 (What do you think this one will be worth in 10 years?)
Keep in mind that the original price for this book was $3.95 when it came out in 1960.
Labels: first edition, Harper Lee, To Kill a Mocking Bird, used