A Harry Potter first edition bought for £10 in 1997 in Scotland has achieved a five-figure sum at auction.
The hardback copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, from the first Potter book print run in 1997, was spotted in a bargain bucket in a bookshop in the Highlands.
The forgotten treasure went under the hammer at Hansons Auctioneers in Staffordshire on Monday and sold for £55,104 to a private UK online buyer.
Hansons’ books expert Jim Spencer said: “It’s a great result for a great find. This was a genuine, honest first issue and a fantastically well-preserved example. It was fresh to market and it deserved to go full steam like the Hogwart’s Express.
"Of the 500 first issue hardbacks printed, 300 went to schools and libraries in order to reach a bigger audience. This is one of the even scarcer 200 that went to bookshops.”
READ MORE: Are you a Harry Potter fan? Test your knowledge
The seller, a 58-year-old Scottish woman, learned about Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone after reading one of the first ever interviews with its author, J K Rowling, in a newspaper in the late 1990s.
The seller said: “I bought the Harry Potter book before anyone really knew much about it, or the author. I found it during a family caravan trip touring round the Highlands. I discovered a bookshop café on an isolated peninsula after driving miles on a single-track road in the north-west of Scotland.
“I recognised the distinctive book cover straight away. The book seller had placed it in a wicker ‘bargain bucket’ basket on the floor. Because it had no dust jacket, I got a couple of pounds knocked off the price. Our two children enjoyed the wizard tale as a bedtime story all through that holiday in 1997.”
The first print run of the famous book featured only 500 hardback copies. According to Hansons, they are the rarest and most prized Potter books, the holy grail for collectors.
The vendor, who lives just north of Edinburgh, said: “My children read something online years back about how to identify first editions and told me they thought we had one of them.
“But I said the edition was worthless due to it having no dust jacket. Some time later I learned the book was never released with a dust jacket. At that point, we stored the book away. It lived like the young Harry Potter did, in the cupboard under the stairs.
“I forgot about it for a long time but then read about the rarity of first editions. I decided to contact Jim Spencer, the Harry Potter books expert at Hansons. I wanted to authenticate my copy and find out what it might be worth. My children are grown up now and it’s time for someone else to have the pleasure of owning a rare piece of literary history.”
Jim Spencer, Harry Potter books expert at Hansons, said: “These first issues are getting harder and harder to find. This must be one of the few remaining copies that’s been in private hands since it was purchased in 1997.
“It’s astonishing it ended up on a remote Scottish peninsula, and it was all down to an article in a newspaper - and perhaps a dusting of magic - that encouraged the inquisitive and very lucky buyer to pluck it from the bargain bin.
“Most examples are quite badly worn, especially ex-library copies. They’ve often been shared among friends and carried around in school rucksacks, which in some ways is lovely, capturing the buzz of Harry Potter when it first gained popularity. However, more traditional collectors are incredibly fussy about condition, which helped this book fulfil its potential.”
The book is the 19th hardback Philosopher’s Stone first edition out of the original 500 discovered by Jim Spencer. They have sold at auction for between £17,500 and £69,000, plus buyer’s premium, dependent on condition.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here