Getting Your Hands on the Unknown Binding Edition of Coretta Scott King's Memoir
The My Life With Martin Luther King Jr Unknown Binding Coretta Scott edition is one of those books that is straightforward to reference but a pain to find in decent condition if you are after the actual unknown binding print run. I spent about three years chasing down copies for a research project on civil rights primary sources, so I learned where the bodies are buried. This is Coretta Scott King's personal account of her life alongside Martin Luther King Jr., published by Doubleday. The unknown binding refers to early promotional or library distribution copies that were not assigned a trade paperback or hardcover format at the time of initial release. They often show up in used book piles with cloth dust jackets that have been removed, plain wrappers, or library binding overrides that obscure the original colophon. The ISBN situation is confusing because different printings got different numbers later. The first edition from 1969 does not carry an ISBN since that system was still new. Later reprints do. If a seller lists it without an ISBN, that does not automatically mean it is a first edition. It could be a mid-70s reprint that lost its bar code through wear.
Where Copies Actually Show Up
AbeBooks and Alibris are your primary targets. Amazon's marketplace has copies but most are reprints dressed up as rare items. I found a legitimate first edition through a small Indiana bookseller who had inherited it from a university library surplus sale. The listing described it as "vintage MLK biography" without mentioning the binding type. Reading beyond the title is where you catch mismatches. University library sales are another route. Institutions liquidate duplicates regularly. A copy showed up in the UW library surplus bin for four dollars with a publisher's stamp on the front free page and the spine slightly cracked from decades of shelf pressure. That is normal for this age. It does not affect the text.
Condition Checks That Matter
When evaluating an unknown binding copy, check the title page for the publication date line and the printer's key. First editions typically show a full number line descending from 10. If the lowest number is 2 or higher, it is a subsequent printing. Also look at the copyright page for any "First Edition" statement. Doubleday sometimes printed that explicitly, sometimes they did not. The dust jacket condition determines value more than anything else. Cracked spines on the jacket are acceptable. Water staining on the interior pages is not. A copy with a stained jacket and clean interior is still usable. A copy with a pristine jacket but foxing through the text blocks is a disappointment. I once bought what I thought was a near-fine copy and opened it to find mildew smell and tan spots across half the pages. Returned it the next day.
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Common Pitfalls
Sellers frequently conflate this book with the later anthology My Eye Saw the Whole Thing, which is a different work compiled by others. Make sure the author field lists Coretta Scott King. Another issue is regional editions. A UK first edition exists and looks nearly identical except for minor typography differences and a different price mark. If you are American buying from a British seller, expect longer shipping and possible customs delays. The biggest problem I ran into was with digitized versions being sold as physical copies. Some eBay listings show a scan of the title page and claim it is a hardcover. Read the description carefully. If it says "image is the actual item" without clarifying format, assume it is a print-on-demand reproduction until proven otherwise.
What to Expect Price-Wise
Fair market for a used copy in good condition runs between forty and ninety dollars depending on jacket quality. First editions with intact jackets can reach two hundred to three hundred dollars at auction. Library copies without jackets go for twenty to thirty-five dollars. Anything under fifteen dollars is usually damaged or a reprint, and anything over four hundred dollars is likely speculative pricing from a dealer who bought low elsewhere. I would recommend setting up alerts on AbeBooks for this title specifically rather than browsing randomly. You will get notified when a copy matching your condition criteria appears. The market moves slowly but steady. Copies surface every few weeks from estate sales and library wind-downs.
Reading It
The content itself is essential primary source material. Coretta Scott King writes with restraint about the movement, the FBI surveillance, the family strain, and the aftermath of the assassination. It is not sensational. It reads more like a private ledger than a dramatic narrative. Some passages feel dated in their phrasing but the factual record is reliable and cross-references well with the King papers at Georgia State. If you are researching this period, pair it with The Autobiography of Martin Luther King Jr. edited by Clayborne Carson for balance. Coretta Scott King's perspective covers domestic life and organizational dynamics that Carson's volume leaves out. Together they give you a fuller picture than either alone.
