British Library Acquires £40m To Kill A Mockingbird First Edition

A rare first edition of Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel To Kill A Mockingbird has been discovered among donated books at Oxfam's bookshop in Portobello Road, west London. The copy, valued at over £40 million, was identified by shop manager Olivia Haysman-Walker, who said it could easily have been missed.

"There were lots of books to work through in the donation, but we recognised To Kill A Mockingbird and thought it was worth taking a closer look," Haysman-Walker said.

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The book, published in 1960, was donated to Oxfam by an American couple, who had purchased it at an auction. It is believed to be one of only a few remaining first editions of the novel in existence. The British Library has since acquired the book, which will join its national collection.

"We realised quite quickly that we had something really special," Haysman-Walker added. "The dust jacket showed its age, and although it was worn around the edges, the pages inside were in beautiful condition."

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Harper Lee's novel, which tells the story of lawyer Atticus Finch as he defends Tom Robinson, a black man wrongly accused of raping a white woman, has sold more than 40 million copies around the world and has been translated into 40 languages. The US novelist, who was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, died in 2016 at the age of 89.

The British Library is planning to begin an extension project in 2026, which will include the acquisition of new books and manuscripts. The library has already acquired several other rare books and manuscripts, including a first edition of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby.