Two sisters who were gifted a first edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by JK Rowling are selling it 25 years later for a British record £150,000. The author gave the hardback copy, one of the first 500 to be printed, to her neighbour in Edinburgh to pass on to her two young relatives.
She even inscribed it: ‘To Jenny and Lucy, with best wishes, JK Rowling’ and dated it September 6, 1997. The siblings treasured the rare book, putting it in storage while they bought a lesser copy for them to read. They have had the first edition ever since, keeping it in pristine condition.
In the first printing run, 300 copies were given to libraries and schools and the remaining 200 passed into private hands. They all contain several typing errors including ‘one wand’ being printed twice on a list of items Harry needs for Hogwarts on page 53.
The misprint ‘Wizardry and and witchcraft’ can also be seen on the back cover – a subtle variation of the title for ‘Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry’ which features in the novel.
The book is being sold with London-based auctioneers Bonhams. The current British record for a Harry Potter first edition is £125,000 for a copy sold in Edinburgh in June 2020, while the world record, a staggering £356,000, was achieved in Dallas, US, last December.
Luke Batterham, specialist at Bonhams, said: “Interest in this book just seems to keep growing and what is wonderful about this copy is its really good condition and very early inscription. When JK Rowling signed it the book had not yet become a phenomenon.
“She gave this copy to a near neighbour in Edinburgh and inscribed it to her young relatives. I believe they had a second copy which they read and this one was kept in pristine condition. The relatives were from the Harry Potter generation and are now in their 30s. We are certainly looking at this book potentially breaking the British record.”
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone has sold over 120 million copies to date. The sale takes place on Wednesday.