Harper Lee

Lee, Harper

American writer (1926-2016). 1 Autograph letter signed and 1 Typed letter signed. Monroeville and New York. 4to. 2 pp. With envelopes. 1 Letter under passepartout.
$ 10,270 / 9.500 € (91231)

Both letters to Kathy McCoy Painter about To Kill a Mockingbird. 1. Regarding the first Monroe County Heritage Museum production of the play in the Old Courthouse in 1991. 2. Typed Letter Signed ("Nelle Harper Lee") to Kathy McCoy on the worldwide influence and success of To Kill a Mockingbird. Harper Lee writes about To Kill a Mockingbird to the director of the Monroeville Historical Society Productions. In 1991, looking to raise money to preserve the Old Courthouse, Kathy McCoy directed the first ever Monroeville community production staged at the original courthouse.

In the first letter Lee responds to the production, expressing her concerns, but offering her tacit blessing. The production was an enormous success, both as a play and as a fundraiser, and continues to this day, drawing tourists from around the world to Monroeville each spring. In the second letter, Lee writes to McCoy about the global success of the book, and in particular the love for the book in Israel on the occasion of a successful tour of the Monroeville cast in Jerusalem. She says of the triumph, turning an old trope on its head, "Taking a play about injustice to Israel, of all places, was like taking coal to Newcastle. You had a built in hit!".

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