Harper Lee SIGNED 1st KILL A MOCKINGBIRD Book

FlatSigned by Harper Lee! A fantastic collector's item!

This rare, novel (the only one by Harper Lee...supposedly.....read on) "To Kill a Mockingbird is worth $10,000.00 or more and is a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Harper Lee published in 1960. This was her first novel ever and her last.  Yet, it won the Pulitzer Prize.  It was instantly successful and has become a classic of modern American literature. This instant success was helped by the very impressive help of Ms. Lee's childhood friend and cousin Truman Capote.  Capote took and is even credited as the photographer of the famous photo of Ms. Lee on the back of the book.  This photo was removed, at the instance of Capote to Ms. Lee when they had an argument AFTER Harper Lee won the Pulitzer.  Some say Capote then wanted to be publicly known as having helped Harper Lee significantly in writing the book.  Later writings of Ms. Lee, but not a book, were compared to "Mockingbird" and experts as well as critics believed that Capote has so edited the book, that it was far closer to his writing than that of Ms. Lee.  The owner of FlatSigned Books believes this to be the true story and has his personal connection to friends of both Ms. Lee and Capote.  The truth is known by very few if anyone but Ms. Lee has refused national interviews since 1965.  Dan Rather sent Ms. Lee a dozen roses every week for months attempting to gain favor and get an interview.  He failed.  Ms. Lee did accept an invitation to an interview with a Professor of the University of Alabma, her alma mata.  The questions were softballs.  Ms. Lee was a great investigator and did so on Capote's novel "In Cold Blood."  She deservered more credit on that book that she received.  So Lee and Capote's lifelong friendship died the day Ms. Lee refused to give Mr. Capote the credit.  They never spoke again.  But, there is more to the story. The owner of FlatSigned is keeping many secrets of what he knows for a later, planned book.

The plot and characters are loosely based on the author's observations of her family and neighbors, as well as on an event that occurred near her hometown in 1936, when she was 10 years old.

The novel is renowned for its warmth and humor, despite dealing with serious issues of rape and racial inequality. The narrator's father, Atticus Finch, has served as a moral hero for many readers and as a model of integrity for lawyers. One critic explained the novel's impact by writing, "In the twentieth century, To Kill a Mockingbird is probably the most widely read book dealing with race in America, and its protagonist, Atticus Finch, the most enduring fictional image of racial heroism."

Hardcover in original jacket with a signature on the first free front end-page.

Copyright date coincides with First Edition and Third Impression is stated on the copyright page.

DUST JACKET:

$3.95 price is intact on the jacket in the lower right hand corner of the front flap.  Third Impression is stated on the dust jacket in the lower left hand corner of the front flap.  Jacket is in VERY GOOD - condition with moderate edgewear and moderate age-toning.  Most edgewear is along hard edges such as spine and book ends at flaps.  No paperloss to jacket, through some small closed tears.  Small tear at base of rear of jacket has been covered with liquid paper.  This jacket bears almost all the issue points of the true first printing including the photo of Ms. Lee on the back jacket and the proper price.  This book was published in 1960.

BOOK:

Book is in VERY GOOD condition and is square and tightly bound with clean, crisp pages inside that are showing some age-toning. Brown boards with green cloth binding and brown spine lettering, no foxing.  Corners are gently bent.  The hard edges are bumped in several places, and bottom edges and top edges of spine cloth show some light sun-bleaching and possible damp staining.  Cloth at top and bottom is beginning to be thread-bare and fragile.  Page-block edges faintly soiled.  Inside front end-leave showing some small tears along hard edge of board in gutter, but not exposed.  Signature on the first free front end-page with small white COA sticker in lower right hand corner from GAI. Pages have no inscriptions or remainder markings from previous owner.

Comes with COA from GAI.

FlatSigned means HAND SIGNED on the page by the author, not personalized (as in "To Billy") or signed on an attached sticker or bookplate. A book which has been FlatSigned is almost always a better investment and is far more desirable than a book that is personalized or contains a signed sticker/bookplate.

In order to reduce the costs associated with listing books on eBay, and in turn, save our customers money, we have chosen to not include individual pictures of each book. The photo at the top of this auction reflects a small sample of our available books.

Tennessee sales tax of 9.25% will apply to transactions shipped within the state.