A proof of the first Harry Potter novel, bought for a penny at a used bookstore nearly 30 years ago, has been sold at auction for $13,900.
British auctioneer Hansons said on Monday that the first edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, described as an “unedited proof” on the cover, was sold to South Korea in 1997 along with two other books. It was announced that it was purchased from a store in London. $0.50.
The anonymous seller picked up the book about the famous boy wizard as a “bundle sale” with other titles, didn’t read it for years, and didn’t pay much attention to it until he read about the high price online. I didn’t even do it. Some Potter copies have been achieved, Hanson said.
The book was sold on Wednesday to a private buyer in the UK for a hammer price of over $13,900.00, for a total of over $18,300.00 including sales premium.
The auction house’s head of books, Jim Spencer, said the author’s name was incorrectly listed as “JA Rowling” instead of JK Rowling on the inside title page of the book.
“This book deserves very good reviews. This proof is the beginning of the Harry Potter phenomenon. This is the first time the first Potter novel has been published,” Spencer said.
