Wizard first edition breaks Potter record

A RARE true first edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone has set a world record for the boy wizard after fetching nearly £130,000 at auction.

The 1997 children’s classic, signed by author JK Rowling, was among the highlights of the Christie’s sale of fine printed books and manuscripts in New York on Tuesday.

Valued at £34,000-£50,000, the book started a bidding war between two collectors and the price rose to £102,052 before the hammer came down.

Including premiums, the lot made £127,565 – a world record for a Harry Potter book at auction.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was the first of Miss Rowling’s novels about the boy wizard and was written largely in cafes in Edinburgh.

Heather Wintraub, Christie’s books and manuscripts specialist, said: ‘While the story of the boy wizard Harry Potter would go on to take the world by storm, JK Rowling was a total unknown when Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was published.

‘The first printing consisted of only 500 hardcover copies, and 300 of these went to libraries. This left 200 copies on the market – and in the hands of young readers.’

Miss Wintraub added: ‘To put this small number in perspective, the final novel in the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, had an initial print run of 12 million by its US publisher.’

Miss Rowling has said her first Harry Potter book, which scooped most children’s literature awards in the UK, changed her life. Like the other six novels in the series, it was turned into a film and made stars of its lead actors.