A first edition of the book “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” by J.K. Rowling has been auctioned in the United States for $471,000. According to the auction house Heritage Auctions, never before has so much money been paid for a 20th-century novel.
“Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” is the first part of the Harry Potter series. The popular books of J.K. Rowling tell the story of a wizard apprentice, Harry Potter, and his friends Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger, with whom he attends Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The seven books have sold more than 500 million copies worldwide. This makes it the best-selling series of books ever.
The first book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was published in 1997. 500 copies of the first hardback edition were printed. The books were mainly intended for libraries.
One of the copies ended up in the hands of David Heyman of Heyday Films, who was looking for children’s books to film. He discussed his idea with film studio Warner Bros… In 1999, Rowling sold the film rights to her first four books. In the end, 8 films were made, which grossed almost 8 billion dollars.
Heyman’s book is now up for auction and fetched $471,000. Other first editions usually fetched between $110,000 and $138,000. The starting price for this example was $75,000. The buyer was a telephone bidder who wished to remain anonymous.