AN ULTRA-rare first-edition Harry Potter novel that was bought for 13p has sold at auction for more than £10,000.
The uncorrected proof copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was bought in 1997 from a second-hand shop with two other books for a total of 40p.
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The title page mistakenly stated the author’s name as “J A Rowling” rather than JK Rowling, and then on the other side as “Joanne Rowling”.
The Uncorrected Proof Copy was one of only 200 printed by Bloomsbury 26 years ago.
It has now sold for £14,432 at auction.
The seller, 52, who comes from London but now lives in Italy, said she bought the book when she was 26 and lived in Crystal Palace.
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She said: “I didn’t have much money but I always liked to treat myself to a browse round second-hand bookshops on Saturday mornings.
“I dropped into one of my usual haunts, one of the second-hand bookshops just off the main road in Crystal Palace, looking for some Agatha Christies.
“Piles of books were all jumbled up in baskets on the floor with a maximum price of 40p.
“The Harry Potter book was among the piles – maybe even by accident – as all the rest were Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, Ngaio Marsh etc, as far as I remember.
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“I bought it as a throw-in with a couple of other titles – 40p for all three. I don’t think I even looked at it properly to tell the truth.”
After drawing worldwide attention, it sold at Hansons’ Staffordshire saleroom on Monday to a private UK buyer.
The book sold for a hammer price of £11,000, and its premium total was £14,432.
The auction house’s Harry Potter books expert, Jim Spencer said: “This book so deserved to do well. This proof copy is where the Harry Potter phenomenon began. This is the very first appearance in print of the first Potter novel.”
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Since then 1997, the book has been to China, Taiwan, the UK and now Italy, being packed and unpacked without being read.
“It ended up stuck behind a shelf in my bedroom until,” the owner continued, “for no good reason again other than the fact my kids were turning into Harry Potter fans, I went looking for it.
“Even the kids haven’t read it – there are four of them aged from 12 to 25. They always unfortunately – or fortunately in this case – preferred the films.
“I was bored one night and scrolling on the internet when a story popped up about the incredible prices achieved for Potter books, so I decided to contact Jim Spencer to see whether my book might be valuable.
“Finding it when I did was just a massive piece of well-timed luck for which I will always be grateful and more than a tad surprised.”
She contacted Spencer to see whether her book was valuable, and admitted that “finding it when I did was just a massive piece of well-timed luck for which I will always be grateful and more than a tad surprised”.
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The remarkable discovery comes just weeks after another extremely rare Harry Potter book was auctioned for £10,000 after being found mysteriously dumped at a charity’s door.
A generous donor gave away the first edition of the Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone to the shop on the Isle of Wight, where it was expected to fetch a staggering sum due to its numerous printing typos.
How to spot a rare Harry Potter book
As JK Rowling’s popularity has rocketed, so has the value of the first edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.
If you think you might have one, then first look to see if Bloomsbury is listed as the publisher on the title page at the bottom.
The copy should be a first edition – which will be noted within the first few pages.
The latest date listed in the copyright information must by 1997.
It should be credited to “Joanne Rowling” and not “J.K Rowling” and carry a print line that reads ” 1 0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1″ on the copyright page.
There is a mistake on page 53 where “1 wand” appears twice in the list of school supplies Harry receives from Hogwarts, which was corrected in later print runs.
For the other titles in the Harry Potter series, it is only the first hardback editions with the dust jacket that have any collectable value.
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