Lee, Harper

36 pp. (size varies). Monroeville, AL, 1 October 2000–9 October 2009, to Bruce Higginson, New York, with autograph envelopes.

Condition as described in catalogue entry.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Harper Lee's letters to a New York neighbor and fellow Alabamian. Bruce Higginson was a friend of Lee's who was originally from Mobile and settled, like Lee, in the Yorkville section of Manhattan.  When Lee was in Monroeville, Higginson looked after her apartment and kept her current on neighborhood news.

17 April 2009: "The new Abp. [New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan] looks jolly enough, but guess he will follow the Pope's orders. Maybe I'm prejudiced, but I don't think much of German shepherds … I shall never forget how quickly the Germans forgave themselves after the war. In the history of the present generation, Hitler never happened. At any rate there may be enough Irish Abps. to head off Benedict!"

8 May [no year]: Monroeville is another country: they do things differently here. Even the newspapers don't have the same nerve as the NYC ones! Life is strictly Hebrews 13:8—nothing ever happens.

A revealing look at the very quiet final years of Harper Lee.

9 July [no year], thanking him for sending the New York papers: "It is a delight to receive the papers, be they respectable (News) or lurid (Post!) and they give me more pleasure than I ever thought newspapers could do! They have become — I don't want to say an essential — part of my life.

13 September 2009: "Time passes here with ineluctable (my favorite word these days) sameness, Nothing happens on a daily basis, but I should not complain … I stuff myself with Ghiradelli chocolate squares and wonder why I don't get fat — but it all seems to be part of what I'm caught up in — NOTHING changes!"