Sale 2683 - Lot 242

Lee, Harper (1926-2016)
To Kill a Mockingbird, First Edition, Signed & Inscribed, the Brown Family Copy.

Philadelphia & New York: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1960.

Stated first edition, first printing, octavo, signed and inscribed by Lee to Michael and Joy Brown: "For Mike and Joy: Life is not an empty dream, Life is a fountain ... well it is a fountain, isn't it??" in blue ink on the front free flyleaf; bound in publisher's half green cloth and rust paper-covered boards; with dust jacket featuring Lee's portrait by Truman Capote, stated second printing of the jacket with the Daniels reviews on rear flap, unclipped (minor creasing to jacket folds, 2-inch closed tear to upper edge, one or two nicks at spine ends); 8 x 5 1/4 in.

THE IMPORTANT BROWN FAMILY COPY, the benefactors and friends who ensured Lee's freedom to write her magnum opus. Before 2006, almost 50 years after the publication of To Kill a Mockingbird, no one knew who had given Harper Lee a Christmas gift that would change her life and modern American literature. In a 1961 McCall's Magazine article, Lee dropped a hint, referring to an anonymous couple who had given her money to live on for a year, so she could concentrate on writing her first novel. The article caused much speculation regarding the couple's identity, but the benefactors were not revealed until Charles Shield published their names in his 2006 book, Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee, without their permission.

Michael and Joy Brown lived on the Upper East Side and were both prominent in Manhattan literary and cultural circles. Michael (1920-2014) was a composer, lyricist, writer, director and performer who began his stage career in the cabaret scene. Before moving to New York in 1947, Brown had befriended Truman Capote, and the two kept in touch. Capote wrote to Brown in 1949, and asked him to look after his childhood friend, Nelle, who had moved from Monroeville, Alabama to Manhattan. Lee worked at a bookstore first, and then as an airline reservation agent. In 1950, Brown married Joy Williams, a ballerina who was dancing under the direction of George Balanchine at the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo in New York. The Browns and Lee quickly became very close, and on Christmas Day, 1956, they presented her with enough money to sustain herself for a full year, accompanied by a short note: "You have one year off from your job to write whatever you please. Merry Christmas."

The present lot has never appeared on the market and comes directly from the collection of Michael and Joy Brown. The Browns and Lee remained friends for the rest of their lives. The Brown family will always be remembered for their overwhelmingly supportive friendship with Harper Lee. Joy was on hand when Lee was inducted posthumously into the Alabama Women's Hall of Fame in 2019, still showing support for her best friend.

From the Estate of Michael and Joy Brown.