Category: Literature

The first edition of To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee was published in 1960 by J. B. Lippincott in Philadelphia in Hardcover. It was Lee’s first and only book (until 2015, when Go Set a Watchman was published) and was instantly acclaimed, winning the Pulitzer Prize for fiction for 1960. There is some controversy on the authorship, with some thinking that it was actually written by Truman Capote. It is estimated that only 5,000 copies were printed of the first printing.

First Edition Points:

• Published by J. B. Lippincott Company.
• “First Edition” stated on the copyright page below the copyright information. Later printings are also stated in this format: “Twenty-third Impression”. If no printing is stated it is a book club edition.
• Capote quote in green ink on front flap.
• $3.95 price on the bottom of front flap ( didn’t change on later printings but is helpful to rule out book club editions).
• No mention of printing on front flap of dust jacket (later printings are stated by printing like: “Second Printing”)
• Some first printings have Shirley Ann Grau and Phyllis McGinley reviews on the rear flap and some have a Jonathan Daniels on the rear flap. It seems that there is a preference for the Daniels state.
• Photo of Lee on the rear panel of the dust jacket (not a real point as this was kept until the third printing and also appeared on early book club editions. However any printings, even book club editions that have the author photo are in demand).

Check for the letters FEL on the rear flap as a FACSIMILE reprint was issued that is exactly the same except for those letters.

Value:
First Printing:
Fine in Dust Jacket, $40,000
Very Good in Dust Jacket, $12,000
Fine without DJ, $4000
Very Good without DJ, $1500
Second Printing:
Fine in Dust Jacket, $4500
Very Good in Dust Jacket, $1500
Other Printings up to the Tenth are worth between $50 for a nice Tenth to $1800 for a nice Third Printing.
Book Club Editions that have the Harper Lee photo of the back are worth up to $200 for a very nice example.

First UK Edition Published by Heinemann in 1960 (Points: “FIRST PUBLISHED IN GREAT BRITAIN 1960” with no additional printings listed and jacket priced at 16s.):
Fine in Dust Jacket: $4000
Very Good in Dust Jacket: $750

Signed copies usually command at least a couple hundred more but signed first editions are fairly hard to find so expect quite a bit more on signed first editions.

First Editions on Abebooks and Ebay

The place that has the biggest selection, good prices and best search is Abebooks. First of all I go to Abebooks Advanced Search and enter the title, the last name…

The first edition of Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand was published in 1957 by Random House in New York. It was published in green cloth with a colorful dust jacket…

The first edition of Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell was published in 1936 by The Macmillan Company in New York. It consisted of only about 5000 copies. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction the next year. It went on to at least 100 more printings and is one of the bestsellers of all time.

First Edition Points:

• Date of 1936 on title page (if there is no date on the title page it is a book club edition)
• “Published May, 1936” on copyright page
• “GONE WITH THE WIND” in the right column on the rear panel of the dust jacket
  In the second printing “GONE WITH THE WIND” was moved to the very top of the left column
  In later printings there were reviews of Gone with the Wind on the rear panel

Early printings can identified to the printing by counting the printings on the copyright page:

“Set up and electrotyped. Published June, 1936 [2nd].
Reprinted June (twice) [3rd & 4th], July (three times) [5th, 6th, 7th],
August (six times) [8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th], September, 1936 (four times) [14th, 15th, 16th, 17th],
October, 1936 (six times) [18th, 19th, 20th, 21st, 22nd, 23rd]”

Making the example I used a 23rd printing. I have labeled the printings in brackets to explain how to identify which printing you have. For even later printings just continue counting each printing mentioned and remember that May isn’t listed so count that first than June and so on. Printings continue to be labeled this way into November, December, January of 1937, February, March, April, the years 1938, 1939, 1940 and so on.

The Photoplay Movie Edition, which was labeled “Motion Picture Edition” was issued in January, 1939.
It was illustrated with stills from the movie starring Clark Gable and Vivian Leigh. It was issued both in wraps (softcover) and in hardcover with dust jacket.

Book Club editions generally have less pages (while the trade edition had 1037 pages) and do not state any printings on copyright page. If it has the date in roman numerals it is a book club edition.

The first edition book is often sold with later printing or facsimile dust jackets. Watch out for those who state that their book is a First Edition without providing these points.

Value:
First Edition of Dust Jacket:
Fine, Perhaps $40,000 but very hard to find a Fine/Fine example, if signed with good provenance $100,000
Very Good, $6000-$7500, if signed $15,000
First Edition without Dust Jacket
Very Good, $750-$1000, if signed $4,000
The Second Printing “Published June, 1936” is worth about $500 in dust jacket, if signed $2,000
Other early printings in dust jacket generally sell for between $50 and $150, without dust jacket between $10 and $40
Any later printings with Mitchell’s signature would be worth at least $1,000.

Motion Picture Edition (December, 1939) Paperback is worth about $35 and the hardcover with dust jacket is worth at least $250 for the first printing of this edition.
The Grosset & Dunlap (1939) photoplay edition is worth about $100 in a nice dust jacket.

Many collectors also buy each individual printing they can find so they can have a complete set of the printings of Gone with the Wind. Several of these printings are harder to find in dust jacket than the First Printing.

First Editions on Abebooks and Ebay

Many collectors also buy Gone with the Wind memorabilia and collectibles such as plates, figurines, movie posters, documents or photos signed by Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable, lamps, dolls, etc. If you are interested in these type of items I would suggest you search eBay. It’s probably the best place to find those type of items.

The first edition of Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ by Lew Wallace was published in 1880 by Harper & Brothers in New York. It was published in blue cloth. It was later made into the 1959 movie starring Charlton Heston.

First Edition Points:

• Published by Harper & Brothers
• Date of 1880 on the title page
• 6 word dedication on dedication page reading “To the Wife of My Youth”
  This was changed in 1883 to “To the Wife of My Youth Who Still Abides with Me”

Any copy without 1880 on the title page but with the six word dedication is a later printing but before 1884.
This does not mean they are second issues, it just means they are later printings.
Many of the copies offered as first editions, especially on Ebay, are not. But if you verify these points with the bookseller you can be sure you are getting the true first edition.

Value: Fine, about $1500, Very Good, about $500.

First Editions of this book on Abebooks