Atlanta native Margaret Mitchell’s 1936 novel, Gone With the Wind, occupies an important place in American literature. After breaking publishing records with one million copies sold within six months, the novel was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, has been translated into over forty languages, and seventy-five years later remains one of the best-selling novels of all time. Such an enduring novel is deserving of a remarkable celebration.
Throughout the 2011 anniversary, the Atlanta History Center's Margaret Mitchell House, birthplace of Gone With the Wind, proudly celebrates the 75th anniversary of the publication of Mitchell’s acclaimed novel presenting a variety of exclusive public programs.
 Atlanta's Book: The Lost Gone With the Wind Manuscript
June 4 - September 5, 2011
On display at Atlanta History Center
In May 1939, Atlanta native Margaret Mitchell wrote to George Brett and said of her award-winning novel, “Long ago, I gave up thinking of “Gone With the Wind” as my book; it’s Atlanta’s.” It is only fitting that seventy-five years after the publication of Gone With the Wind, a rare piece of her manuscript, once thought to be destroyed, will find its way back to Atlanta.
As part of the Gone With the Wind 75th Anniversary programming, the Atlanta History Center is honored to be one of only two venues to display chapters of the original Gone With the Wind manuscript. On loan from the Pequot Library in Southport Connecticut, these pages are “considered a precious literary artifact,” according to Chris Coover, head of Rare Books & Manuscripts at Christie’s.
Atlanta’s Book: The Lost Gone With the Wind Manuscript, on display at the Atlanta History Center June 4 – September 5, 2011, will feature the last four chapters of the book, with the individual sheets of chapter sixty-three, the final chapter, mounted on the wall for visitors to view and read. Some of the pages feature handwritten changes by Mitchell and her husband, John Marsh. The manuscript was given to the Pequot Library in the 1950s by George P. Brett, Jr., who was president of their Board of Trustees at the time, and served as chairman of the American division of Macmillan Publishing and secured publishing rights to Gone With the Wind. The display will also feature foreign and first edition copies of Gone With the Wind, the actual desk she used while writing her novel, and select images.
For a complete Gone With the Wind experience, guests can save 20% when purchasing dual tickets to the Atlanta History Center, and Margaret Mitchell House, birthplace of Gone With the Wind.
Atlanta’s Book: The Lost Gone With the Wind Manuscript, Turning Point: The American Civil War and War in Our Backyards: Discovering Atlanta, 1861-1865 are all included with Atlanta History Center general admission.
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