What a magical find! A first edition Harry Potter book purchased at a Highland bookshop 26 years ago has just sold for more than £55,000! The hardback copy of ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’, first published in 1997, is one of just 200 copies from the novel’s first-ever print run that were distributed to the shops.
It’s believed the initial retail price was £10. The seller, a retired 58-year-old Scottish woman who remains unnamed, says she found the book during a family caravan holiday in the 1990’s. She says that she purchased the book from a wee bookshop café at the end of a single-track road near Ullapool. J.K Rowling had yet to become a household name at the time, but the seller recognised her initials after reading about her in the news and so picked up the book. Ironically, the seller had been keeping the rare edition in storage within a cupboard under her stairs.
This mirrors the protagonist Harry Potter’s life before before boarding the Hogwarts Express as he too spent many years hidden from the world in a cupboard under the stairs.
There have been so many stories over the years about old books being uncovered and then selling for thousands. Here are some more great examples.
