What Was the Print Run of To Kill a Mockingbird? First Edition Scarcity
The first printing of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird (July 11, 1960, J.B. Lippincott Company) was approximately 5,000 copies. This modest number — reflecting a publisher’s cautious bet on a debut novelist — stands in stark contrast to the novel’s subsequent cultural dominance. Over 40 million copies have been sold worldwide, making the gap between first printing scarcity and total circulation one of the widest in American literary history.
Why Only 5,000 Copies?
In 1960, Harper Lee was a completely unknown author. To Kill a Mockingbird was her debut novel, and while Lippincott had confidence in the manuscript (editor Tay Hohoff had worked extensively with Lee on revisions), they had no commercial track record to justify a large first printing. Five thousand copies was standard for a debut literary novel from a mid-tier publisher in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
For context, compare other major debut novels from the era:
| Title | Author | Year | Approximate First Printing |
|---|---|---|---|
| To Kill a Mockingbird | Harper Lee | 1960 | 5,000 |
| Catch-22 | Joseph Heller | 1961 | 7,500 |
| One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest | Ken Kesey | 1962 | 5,000 |
| The Bell Jar (UK, as Victoria Lucas) | Sylvia Plath | 1963 | 2,000 |
| Slaughterhouse-Five | Kurt Vonnegut | 1969 | 10,000 |
The pattern is consistent: publishers did not print large first runs of debut novels, even when editors were enthusiastic about the manuscripts. The economics of 1960s publishing demanded caution.
The Rapid Reprinting
To Kill a Mockingbird became a bestseller almost immediately. Lippincott reprinted quickly and repeatedly:
- First printing: ~5,000 copies (July 1960)
- Second printing: within weeks
- Book-of-the-Month Club edition: enormous print run (100,000+), sold simultaneously
- Pulitzer Prize announced May 1961 — triggered further massive reprinting
- By the end of 1962, multiple printings totaling hundreds of thousands of copies
The Book-of-the-Month Club edition is the most common source of confusion for collectors. BOMC copies are essentially identical to Lippincott trade editions in text and often in appearance, but they are not first editions and are worth $20–$50 rather than $15,000–$40,000.
What the Numbers Mean for Collectors
Starting from 5,000 first printing copies in 1960:
Attrition over 65+ years: The novel was and is one of the most read books in America — assigned in virtually every high school. Copies were read, lent, lost, spilled on, and discarded at high rates. Of the original 5,000, perhaps 1,000–2,000 survive in private hands in any condition.
Condition attrition: The Lippincott binding is reasonably durable, but the dust jacket (featuring a child’s drawing-style illustration) is vulnerable to wear, fading, and tearing. Finding a copy with a bright, unclipped jacket after 65+ years is genuinely challenging.
Estimated Fine/Fine survivors: Perhaps 200–400 copies with intact, unclipped jackets in collectible condition.
Current Market Values
| Condition | Value |
|---|---|
| Fine/Fine, unclipped jacket | $25,000–$40,000 |
| Near Fine/Near Fine | $12,000–$25,000 |
| Very Good/Very Good | $5,000–$12,000 |
| Good, jacket worn | $2,000–$5,000 |
| Without jacket | $500–$2,000 |
The jacket multiplier is dramatic — a Fine copy without the jacket is worth $1,000–$2,000, while the same copy with a Fine jacket commands $25,000–$40,000. The jacket represents 90%+ of the value.
The Single-Novel Phenomenon
Lee’s single-novel output (setting aside Go Set a Watchman, 2015, which was a contested publication) means all collecting attention focuses on one title. There is no Harrison Lee bibliography to spread demand across — every collector of Harper Lee needs this one book.
This concentration effect amplifies the scarcity pressure on first printings. Compare to an author like Hemingway, where collector demand is distributed across a dozen major titles, or McCarthy, where demand is spread across Blood Meridian, The Road, No Country, and others.
The Go Set a Watchman Complication
When Go Set a Watchman was published in 2015 (originally written before Mockingbird, then rediscovered), the circumstances were controversial — Lee was elderly and in poor health, and questions arose about whether the publication was truly authorized. The controversy has not diminished Mockingbird’s value; if anything, it reinforced Mockingbird’s singularity and cultural primacy.
Go Set a Watchman first editions (HarperCollins, 2015) had a massive first printing (2 million+) and are worth $20–$50 unsigned. Signed copies of Watchman — which Lee signed in very limited quantities given her age — command $2,000–$5,000.
Signed Copies
Harper Lee signed books sparingly throughout her life. She was not reclusive in the Salinger/Pynchon mode, but she was private and did not seek public attention. Signed copies of Mockingbird are scarce and command substantial premiums:
| Signed Condition | Value |
|---|---|
| Signed first printing, Fine/Fine | $40,000–$80,000 |
| Signed later printing | $3,000–$8,000 |
Lee died in February 2016, permanently fixing the supply.
The Capote Connection
Truman Capote — Lee’s childhood friend and the model for the character Dill in Mockingbird — is listed as the author photograph credit in the first edition. Some collectors seek first editions with this attribution as an additional point of interest. The Lee-Capote literary friendship, which cooled after the success of Mockingbird eclipsed Capote’s expectations, adds biographical depth to the collecting narrative.