Antiques Roadshow

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.

APPRAISER

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. 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.