Auction PR Publicity Announcements News and Information
Auction PR Publicity Announcements News and Information

Nate D. Sanders to Auction Harper Lee Letter Nov 8

A 1960 typed letter signed by Harper Lee elaborates about the fictional Maycomb County in “To Kill a Mockingbird” and includes a hand-drawn map of the state of Alabama with the words “Maycomb County.”

The letter will be auctioned at Nate D. Sanders’ Tuesday November 8, 2011 auction.

The famed novelist wrote the letter just two months after the publication of her landmark Civil Rights book. The letter reads in part, “You ask me where Maycomb County is, where the Landing is—the only answer I can give you is that Maycomb County is in my heart and the Landing is in my imagination. If, in “To Kill a Mockingbird,” I persuaded you that those places are real, that means I have succeeded in my profession, which is writing fiction.

Lee inscribes at the bottom of the letter, “Here is your map:” and scribbles an outline of the state of Alabama with the words ‘Maycomb County’ labeled in the northern/central part of the state.

Nate D. Sanders is also auctioning a handwritten 1993 Lee letter in which she speaks highly about the potential of novelist Mark Childress.

Addressed to fan Don Salter, she remarks, “I shall read it with great pleasure and hope that Mark Childress has hit his stride. He is a fine writer to begin with; I have been waiting for him to age a little—maturity will see him at his best, I think, and his best should be superb.”

Six years later, Childress published his critically acclaimed novel, “Crazy in Alabama.”

The 1960 letter is estimated to sell between $8,000-$10,000. The 1993 fan letter is estimated to go for between $5,000-$7,000.

The auction ends Tuesday, November 8, 2011 at 5 pm Pacific Standard Time.

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *