Initially sold in 1997 for $.38 cents at a second-hand shop in London, an extremely rare original copy of Harry Potter and the Philosophers’ Stone has just sold for $17,000.
From Trash to Treasure
The story around this misfit-misprint is quite amusing.
The 52-year-old seller, who wishes to remain anonymous, shared in an interview, “In 1997, when I was 26…I didn’t have much money but I always liked to treat myself to a browse round second-hand bookshops on Saturday mornings.”
She goes on to explain that the rare Potter find was discovered and purchased quite by chance. “I bought it as a throw-in with a couple of other titles – 40p for all three. Since then, it’s followed me round to China, Taiwan, the UK and now Italy (where) it ended up stuck behind a shelf in my bedroom until, for no good reason again other than the fact my kids were turning into Harry Potter fans, I went looking for it.”
It’s at this point, years after purchasing their unknown high value treasure, the seller finally opens the unassuming and rather bland looking book. “I was bored one night and scrolling on the internet when a story popped up about the incredible prices achieved for Potter books.”
Household Name
One of the first things that stood out to the seller was the apparent misspelling of the world famous author’s name. The title page mistakenly states the author’s name as, ‘J A Rowling’, instead of ‘J K Rowling. In addition, the author’s full name, ‘Joanne Rowling’, is printed on the inside cover page.
Of course, the other thing that stood out to the seller was that words, “Uncorrected Proof Copy”, printed across the top of the cover page.
As shared by BBC news, an Uncorrected Proof Copy is when publishers are getting a book ready to be published and they do a first print run of a book to be checked for errors and issues. “Only a select few are allowed to read the proof, including the publishers and the author of the book. It is not intended to be sold.”
As for how the oddity ended up in a second hand shop- well, that still remains a mystery.
This edition is the very first printed copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and is thought to be one of only 200 versions printed by Bloomsbury in their trial run.
Rare Find
The seller had a feeling that she had something unique in their possession and decided to reach out to Jim Spencer at Hanson’s Auction house. Spencer is Hanson’s world-renowned Potter expert and shared that he has only ever come across one other book like this one, which sold at auction last year for almost $24,000 (£18,750)
Spencer commented, “This book has a story all its own. It was an incredibly lucky buy for our client all those years ago. In reality it cost her 13p as it was sold together with two other books for the princely price of 40p! A touch of Potter magic perhaps.” He continued, “This book so deserved to do well.”
Indeed that’s exactly what happened. On February 26th 2024, The Harry Potter book “lot 2” sold at Hanson’s house with a five figure price tag.
The fortunate seller was more than happy to pass their treasure along to a passionate book collector and pocket their whopping 5,151,415% return on their investment from decades earlier. “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.”
Ironically, the seller admits to never reading the book, stating that they “preferred the movies.” This is why, despite having such an adventurous life, the book was able to sell for such a high fee- it was in pristine condition due to rarely being opened.
An avid book reader and proud library card holder, Angela is new to the world of e-Readers. She has a background in education, emergency response, fitness, loves to be in nature, traveling and exploring. With an honours science degree in anthropology, Angela also studied writing after graduation. She has contributed work to The London Free Press, The Gazette, The Londoner, Best Version Media, Lifeliner, and Citymedia.ca.