First edition of Harry Potter found in trash bin sells for $69,000

The seller bought the book before the series about the wizard with the scar became famous

A rare first edition copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, found in a discount bin at a Scottish bookstore in the late 1990s, has sold at auction for $69,000.

A rare copy of the first edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was sold at auction for a large sum of money. England-based auction house Hansons Auctioneers announced the sale of the hardcover book to a private buyer in the UK for more than $69,000.

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

The hardcover book is one of 200 early editions of the bestselling children’s book sent to bookstores before its mass publication in 1997, according to the auctioneers who sold the prized literary memorabilia.

The owner of the lot told the auction house that she originally bought the publication “while traveling with my family” 26 years ago in the Scottish Highlands: “I discovered a bookshop-café on an isolated peninsula after driving several miles along a single-track road in north-west Scotland.”

She spotted the book there and bought it for £10 in 1997. She even managed to reduce the original price, “because it didn’t have a dust jacket, they knocked a couple of pounds off the price for me. My two children enjoyed the ‘magic bedtime story’ throughout the holidays in 1997.”

The woman explained that she first became aware of the book after reading one of JK Rowling’s first interviews with the Scotsman newspaper in the late 1990s, adding: “I bought the Harry Potter book before anyone really knew about it.” her or about the author.”

Years later, the book’s owner’s children did research on the Internet that led them to believe they had a first edition, but the Scottish woman assumed her copy was worthless due to the lack of a dust jacket. However, when the Scot eventually learned that the first editions did not come with a dust jacket, it was decided to check the authenticity of the copy.

“Little did she know that she had the holy grail for collectors,” Hansons Auctioneers said.

“These first issues are becoming harder and harder to find. This must be one of the few remaining copies that has been in private hands since its purchase in 1997,” said Hansons’ resident Harry Potter expert Jim Spencer. “This is a fantastically well-preserved copy. This is a fresh edition and deserves to be in full swing like the Hogwarts Express. Most copies are quite worn, especially those from the former library. They were often shared among friends and carried in school backpacks, which in some ways was wonderful, reflecting the hype around Harry Potter when it first gained popularity.”

The condition of the book was highly regarded by collectors because they are incredibly picky about the characteristics of a lot, and the first edition could hardly have been better than this.

The price for which the book was sold at auction was far from the original price at which the seller purchased the book.

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

The book is “the 19th first hardcover edition of The Philosopher’s Stone out of the original 500 discovered by Spencer,” the auction house noted. So far, the recovered books have been auctioned for prices ranging from $21 to $85,000.