First Edition Harry Potter Books Found in Skip Sell for Thousands

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Earlier this month, a rare hardback edition of J.K Rowling's Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, sold for £33,000 after being found and recovered from a school skip. The copy was one of only 500 first edition hardbacks printed of the 1997 book, which well succeeded its estimated price of between £8,000 and £12,000 at the online auction on 21st May. It is the third copy found by Hanson's Auctioneers in the last 12 months.

Alongside several other paperback books from the series, the anonymous seller rescued the copies in 2008 from a skip at the Buckinghamshire school where she used to work. According to the 65 year old teacher, the school was in the process of throwing away tatty books in preparation for an Ofsted inspection, something which was a fairly regular occurrence. She said:
"I love books and reading and it just seemed awful to throw them away, so I picked up about five Harry Potter books. I thought they might be useful for my children or grandchildren in the future. It was better than seeing them go to waste."
Auctioneer Jim Spencer with the hardback Harry Potter first edition
Picture: Hansons Auctioneers

The books ended up in her loft, being full of typos and misspellings, but four years ago her son investigated their value. According to the seller, a London business offered £4,000 for one of the paperbacks there and then, but the books just went back into the loft and were forgotten about.
"Last year we were watching a TV interview with Charles Hanson, owner of Hansons Auctioneers, about the sale of a Harry Potter first edition which sold for thousands at auction and decided to get in touch."
"Due to its condition, we thought £20,000 would be a good result. We watched the auction and the price just kept going up and up!" 
The special Harry Potter-themed Library Auction received particular interest from American bidders, but the hardback Philosopher's Stone was ultimately bought by a private UK buyer. A tense auction was battled out between internet bidders and seven telephone bidders, where the final hammer total for the 18 Potter/Rowling lots came to a staggering £60,800.

Auctioneer Charles Hanson oversees the auction
Picture: Hansons Auctioneers

Jim Spencer, head of Hansons' library auction, has described first edition Philosopher's Stone books as being "as rare as hens' teeth". A collectors "holy-grail", the news of this book's success has sparked a huge upsurge of Harry Potter related enquiries, with as many as 50 emails a day from people all over the world who believe that they might also own first editions.

The seller believes that the school may have had 10 first edition hardbacks at one stage, but it is unlikely that the rest have survived.
A combined hammer price of £39,760 was made from her 5 rescued books.


Read more about the auction directly from Hansons Auctioneers here.


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