To Kill A Mockingbird is a novel by Harper Lee, published by J.B. Lippincott & Co. in 1960. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1961.

First Edition Identification Points

All of the following points must be present to ensure a true first edition / first printing.

• The copyright page has the following text:

COPYRIGHT © 1960 BY HARPER LEE
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOG CARD NUMBER 60-7847
FIRST EDITION

• Front flap of dust jacket has Truman Capote quote at the top in green text
• Front flap of dust jacket does not list printing, has $3.95 at the bottom
• Back flap of dust jacket exists in two states, with a possible preference for Daniels state:
  • Quote by Jonathan Daniels
  • Quotes by Shirley Ann Grau & Phyllis McGinley
• Back cover has photograph of Harper Lee taken by Truman Capote
• 8vo brown boards with green cloth spine

Later Editions’ Identification Points

The applicable printing numbers are listed in brackets when known.

• On the copyright page of subsequent printings, FIRST EDITION is replaced by “nTH IMPRESSION” (SECOND, THIRD, FOURTH, etc.) [2+]
• Front flap of dust jacket has quote by Phyllis McGinley at the top in green text [4+]
• Front flap of dust jacket lists the printing number in italics at the bottom [2+]
• Back flap of dust jacket has quote by Shirley Ann Grau & Elizabeth Gray Vining [4+]
• Back cover has pull-quotes from numerous magazines starting with TIME [4+]
• There is a “W” on the copyright page [7-13]
• Front cover has a gold sticker that says “The Pulitzer Prize Novel 1961”

Book Club Editions’ Identification Points

• On the copyright page of Book Club printings, there is nothing under “PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA” (no catalog number or impression statement)
• Front flap of dust jacket says “BOOK CLUB EDITION” at the bottom of the flap
• BOMC indentation on the back cover
• Different cover art (not a black tree with green leaves on brown background)

Publication History

Harper Lee (pen name of Nelle Harper Lee) started writing the manuscript that would become To Kill A Mockingbird in New York in 1956. As a Christmas present that year, her friends (whom she had met through fellow author Truman Capote) gave her a year’s worth of financial support to pursue writing full-time. In the spring of 1957, her agent Maurice Crain sent the manuscript to publishers and it was bought by J.B. Lippincott & Company. An editor at that company, Therese von Hohoff Torrey (known as Tay Hohoff), helped the author revise the work over the next few years. It was published on July 11, 1960 in an initial print run of 5,000 copies. The book was immediately successful and many additional printings followed. It was chosen for numerous book clubs as well as a Reader’s Digest Condensed Book, which increased its ubiquity. In 1961 To Kill A Mockingbird won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.