We cannot support the common thought that it is a book club indicator. However, many people write and ask what the "W" means on their later printing copies. The first edition does not have a "W" on the copyright page. Earlier book club editions (BCEs) do have the desired photograph on the rear panel, but the books are thinner and of cheaper material and of at least three different cover designs. The BOMC does NOT have the Capote photograph of Lee on the rear panel. BOMC issues of Mockingbird have the same green cloth backing and brown-papered boards as the trade editions, but the well-known BOMC indentation is added to the back cover. One of these was the Book-of-the-Month Club (BOMC), which differs from other book clubs by producing books of the same quality and design as the trade editions. In 1960, To Kill a Mockingbird was issued by at least four book clubs. While the stated second printing dust jackets have the Daniels review, we have found that the stated third printing jackets have the Grau/McGinley reviews. Jonathan Worth Daniels was hardly obscure. He also served as press secretary for Franklin D. Jonathan Worth Daniels was an author and an outspoken supporter of civil rights. Rather, the review was written by Jonathan Worth Daniels, who at the time was the editor of the Raleigh News and Observer. The Jonathan Daniels who wrote the dust jacket review was not Jonathan Myrick Daniels, the Episcopal seminarian killed for his civil rights work in 1965. This is supported by the fact that the Grau review returns to the back flap, and the McGinley review to the front flap of the seventh printing. So it raises questions of the why the publisher would change blurbs from two well known authors to one lesser known minister. The case for the Daniels state being first is that normally blurbs for a first book progress from obscure reviewers to more famous ones as a book becomes more popular. Also, an early advertisement establishes that Grau and McGinley read advance copies and "poured out their enthusiasm. The case for the Grau/McGinley state being first is that the Grau and McGinley reviews were replaced by the Daniels blurb on the stated second printing of the dust jacket. There has been significant debate about the order of the states. They are identical except for the back flap reviews. They both have the author's photo on the back panel. Both states have the Capote blurb in green, the $3.95 price, and no printing statement on the front flap. The other state dust jacket has a single Jonathan Daniels review, and we have seen many of these. One state has two reviews on the back flap - by Shirley Ann Grau and Phyllis McGinley. There appears to be two states of the first edition dust jacket. Boards are brown with green cloth spine.Ī first edition dust jacket has no statement of printing and has a price of $3.95 on the lower corner of the front flap. "FIRST EDITION" is stated on the copyright page. Approximately 5,000 first printings were produced.
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