A Scottish woman (58) has made the deal of a lifetime: in the late 1990s she bought the first ‘Harry Potter’ book in the bargain bin of a store, now she has sold the same book for 55,000 pounds, or about 64,000 euros .
Thursday, December 14, 2023 at 1:22 PM
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, the first book in JK Rowling’s seven-part success series, was published in 1997. The young wizard with characteristic glasses was still a noble unknown. In the first edition, barely 200 copies were printed. And even then they did not sell smoothly everywhere.
A 58-year-old Scottish woman, who has chosen to remain anonymous, picked up one of those copies in the bargain bin of a bookshop in Wester Ross. She recognized the name ‘Rowling’ because she had recently coincidentally read an interview with the talented writer in The Scotsman newspaper. The book cost her less than ten pounds, the equivalent of about 12 euros.
“£55,000 is a fantastic result for such a great find. This was a true first edition that has been very well maintained.”
Jim Spencer
Book expert
“Well maintained”
Twenty-six years later, the situation is completely different. Harry Potter has become a worldwide phenomenon. The books were translated into 67 different languages and sold more than 600 million times. This means that the very first edition of the very first book has now become a special collector’s item for which fans will pay a lot of money.
The anonymous Scot also experienced this. According to BBC, the 58-year-old woman recently managed to sell the book for 55,000 pounds, or about 64,000 euros. “It’s a great result for such a great find,” says book expert Jim Spencer in an interview with the BBC. “This was a true first edition that has been very well maintained.”