--- title: Harper Lee's Letters Could Sell for $250,000 in Auction description: "To Kill a Mockingbird" author Harper Lee's letters are up for auction and could sell for $250,000 canonical: https://time.com/3906899/harper-lee-letters-auction/ author: Sam Frizell article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-06-03T13:13:22.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:59:02.761Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Harper Lee's Letters Could Sell for $250,000 in Auction og:description: She wrote about her surprise over the success of 'To Kill a Mockingbird' og:url: https://time.com/3906899/harper-lee-letters-auction/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0d8ffe509ee53919/698852c1428a9e67abccd853/harper-lee.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Harper Lee montgomery alabama og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Harper Lee's Letters Could Sell for $250,000 in Auction twitter:description: She wrote about her surprise over the success of 'To Kill a Mockingbird' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0d8ffe509ee53919/698852c1428a9e67abccd853/harper-lee.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Harper Lee's Letters Could Sell for $250,000 in Auction > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. ## Video: High Art's High Price: Museums Can't Afford It [Watch (HLS stream): High Art's High Price: Museums Can't Afford It](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/BR0tUoUi.m3u8) (2:31)  _Published 2013-11-15. The ultra-wealthy are snatching up prized works of art by 20th century masters. Many of these pieces, however, won't be seen again by the general public._ by [Sam Frizell](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Jun 3, 2015 1:13 PM UTC  In this Aug. 20, 2007, file photo, author Harper Lee smiles during a ceremony honoring the four new members of the Alabama Academy of Honor at the Capitol in Montgomery, Ala. In this Aug. 20, 2007, file photo, author Harper Lee smiles during a ceremony honoring the four new members of the Alabama Academy of Honor at the Capitol in Montgomery, Ala.Rob Carr—AP by [Sam Frizell](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Jun 3, 2015 1:13 PM UTC Six typewritten letters by Harper Lee, the author of _To Kill a Mockingbird_, could sell for up to $250,000 when they [go up for auction](http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/02/us-auction-letters-harperlee-idUSKBN0OI2NY20150602) this month. Christie’s auctioning house will handle the sale of the letters on June 12 in New York. The letters are undated or were written between 1956 and 1961 to Lee’s friend, New York architect Harold Caufield, Reuters reports. In the letters, Lee wrote about her surprise at the success of her Pulitzer Prize-winning American classic, _To Kill a Mockingbird_, as well as about caring for her ailing father, who was the model for her character Atticus Finch. “Daddy is sitting beside me at the kitchen table … I found myself staring at his handsome old face, and a sudden wave of panic flashed through me, which I think was an echo of the fear and desolation that filled me when he was nearly dead,” she wrote. A second book by the 89-year-old Lee will be published on July 14. \[[_Reuters_](http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/02/us-auction-letters-harperlee-idUSKBN0OI2NY20150602)\] Harper Lee's Letters Could Sell for $250,000 in Auction ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3906899/harper-lee-letters-auction/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3906899/harper-lee-letters-auction/"},"headline":"Harper Lee's Letters Could Sell for $250,000 in Auction","datePublished":"2015-06-03T13:13:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:59:02.761Z","description":"She wrote about her father, the model for Atticus Finch, and her surprise over the success of To Kill a Mockingbird","url":"https://time.com/3906899/harper-lee-letters-auction/","keywords":["Books","Auction","To Kill a Mockingbird","Harper Lee"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0d8ffe509ee53919/698852c1428a9e67abccd853/harper-lee.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sam Frizell","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0d8ffe509ee53919/698852c1428a9e67abccd853/harper-lee.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Harper Lee montgomery alabama","caption":"Harper Lee montgomery alabama","creditText":"Rob Carr—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/books/","name":"Books"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3906899/harper-lee-letters-auction/","name":"Harper Lee's Letters Could Sell for $250,000 in Auction"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"High Art's High Price: Museums Can't Afford It","description":"The ultra-wealthy are snatching up prized works of art by 20th century masters. 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