September 2015 | Rebecca Rego Barry

No More Harper Lee Manuscripts

9780062409850.jpgWell, the verdict is in. According to a report by rare book dealer James S. Jaffe, there are no more mystery manuscripts in Harper Lee's safe-deposit box.

Lee's long-awaited second novel, Go Set a Watchman, was "found" in 2011 and published this past July. At the time, her lawyer, Tonja B. Carter, intimated that a third novel might also be hidden among her papers. She called in Jaffe to inspect the typescripts (and Lee's vintage Quiet DeLuxe Royal portable typewriter). What he found was an early draft of part 1 of To Kill a Mockingbird, an original typescript of Go Set a Watchman, and the author's original copy-edited typescript of To Kill a Mockingbird with revisions and corrections by Lee and her Lippincott editor. 

You can download and read the entire report here. The Wall Street Journal broke the story yesterday afternoon.