Harry Potter First Edition Found in Bargain Bin Sells at Auction for $69,000

A rare first edition of the first Harry Potter book has fetched a huge sum of money at auction.

Hansons Auctioneers, an auction house based in England, announced on Monday that the hardcover first edition Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone – known as Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in the US — sold at auction for more than £55,000, or $69,000, to a private buyer from the United Kingdom.

The book features an original image from the novel’s first publication, showing the story’s protagonist, Harry Potter, with his iconic lightning bolt scar in full view, making a shocked face in front of the Hogwarts Express train on platform 9 ¾ at King’s Cross Station.

“Harry Potter” was written in bright yellow letters at the top over a red background with author JK Rowling’s name printed below it over an orange background. The book also contained a quote from fellow children’s author Wendy Cooling at the bottom.

First edition Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.

HANSONS AUCTIONEERS

“It’s a great score for a big reveal,” Hansons book expert Jim Spencer said, according to the post. “This was an original, honest first issue and a fantastically well preserved copy. It was fresh for the market and deserved to go full steam ahead like the Hogwart’s Express.”

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“Of the 500 printed hardcovers of the first edition, 300 went to schools and libraries to reach a larger audience. This is one of the even rarer 200 that went to bookstores,” he added.

The price for which the book was sold at auction was far from the original price for which the seller, an unnamed 58-year-old Scottish woman, bought the book. She told the auction house that she originally found it “during a family caravan trip” 26 years ago in the Scottish Highlands, saying: “I discovered a bookshop on an isolated peninsula after driving for miles on a single-track road in the north-west of Scotland.”

There she saw the book and bought it for £10 (about US$12.50) at the time. She even managed to get a few dollars off the original price.

The first edition was stored in the cupboard under the stairs.

HANSONS AUCTIONEERS

“Because it didn’t have a dust jacket, I got a couple of pounds off the price. Our two children enjoyed the wizarding story as a bedtime story throughout that holiday in 1997,” explained the unnamed seller.

She said she first learned about the book after reading one of Rowling’s first interviews Scot newspaper in the late 1990s, adding: “I bought a Harry Potter book before anyone really knew much about it or the author.”

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In an interesting coincidence, the Hansons’ noted that she even kept the book in the cupboard under the stairs for years – drawing a direct parallel to the story’s main protagonist, who begins his journey in the cupboard under the stairs in the Dursleys’ house.

“I forgot about it for a long time, but then I read about the rarity of first editions,” said the seller, whose children originally gave her the idea that the book might be one of those rare editions.

“I decided to contact Jim Spencer, the Harry Potter book specialist at Hansons. I wanted to get my copy certified and find out what it might be worth,” she continued. “My children are now grown and I thought it was time someone else had the pleasure of owning a rare piece of literary history.”

Inside a first edition copy Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.

HANSONS AUCTIONEERS

The book is “the 19th hardbound first edition Philosopher’s Stone of the original 500 discovered by Spencer,” Hansons noted. So far, the found books have sold at auction for between £17,500 ($21,945) and £69,000 ($85,528), plus a buyer’s premium, depending on condition.

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This last example sold was one of the few in good preservation, according to Spencer, attributed to the way it was stored.

“Most of the copies are pretty worn, especially the library copies,” Spencer said. “They were often shared between friends and carried around in school backpacks, which is nice in a way, capturing the buzz about Harry Potter when it first gained popularity. However, traditional collectors are incredibly concerned about condition, which has helped this book fulfill its potential.”

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Source: HIS Education