The auction of a rare Harry Potter book found at an Oxfordshire primary school which originally failed to sell has seen a “fairytale ending” as the volume was eventually bought for thousands by a local businessman.
An uncorrected proof copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was sold for £15,000 yesterday after failing to achieve its reserve price when it went up for auction on Tuesday. The new owner – who is from Faringdon, Oxfordshire – plans to display the book in a local museum in the hopes of attracting tourism to the area.
The uncorrected proof features a typo in JK Rowling’s name – it is spelt “JA Rowling” on the title page. It was bought for £1 in 1997 by St Kenelm’s primary school at a warehouse sale. “It was not thought to have any value,” said Bob Alder, former headteacher of the school. “However, it was known from press coverage that the story was something special, and to read extracts to the children would encourage them to own their own copy.”
First editions were soon purchased by the school, meaning the proof copy was left largely untouched on the shelves. By 2002, the school realised that the proof – one of only 200 printed by Bloomsbury – may have value owing to the popularity of the book series, and it was stored away. However, in 2015, the copy went missing, and “there was concern it had been thrown away in a clear out of old paperbacks”, said Alder.
The book was found in a tidy-up this summer, and the school decided to put it up for sale. It went under the hammer with a guide price of £15,000-£20,000 but did not reach its reserve. However, post-auction interest was high, and the local buyer agreed to a price of £15,000. The money will go towards helping schoolchildren “develop their love of literature”, said Alder.
“I am tremendously happy to have acquired such an iconic and important text and to be able to keep it in the county for others to enjoy,” said the buyer. “The main reason for the purchase is to increase visitors to Faringdon.
“We have a partnership with Faringdon town council and hope to be able to display the book in the town museum, which is located in the old pump house, in the coming months. Faringdon has much to offer and we hope this acquisition will give the town, and the school in Minster Lovell from which it was acquired, a welcome boost.”
Jim Spencer, head of books at Hansons, said that he “never doubted” it would sell and that he was “incredulous when it didn’t spark a bidding battle”. He added that the sale showed “exactly why we have reserves” in place and that it would have “been wrong to let a dealer grab a bargain for a quick sale”.
“What I couldn’t have predicted was this fairy-tale ending with the book staying at home in Oxfordshire and being shared with the public,” added Spencer.
Tuesday also saw the auction of a rare Harry Potter book that had survived a house fire. One of only 15 editions of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone published in 2012 to mark the title’s 15th anniversary, the volume had been stored in a Glasgow tenement which was the site of a fire earlier this year. The edition sold for £15,000.
