A rare first edition of the English edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone has fetched $471,000 (417,000 euros) at an auction in the United States. According to auction house Heritage Auctions never before has so much money been paid for a twentieth-century novel.
Of this particular 1997 edition, which has a hard cover and a color illustration, only 500 were printed, according to the auction house. Most editions were destined for British libraries.
Other first editions usually fetched between $110,000 and $138,000. This time, the bidders quickly pushed up the initial price of $75,000 to $471,000. The buyer was a telephone bidder, about whom nothing further has been disclosed.
Philosopher’s stone is the first in British author JK Rowling’s popular book series about the sorcerer’s apprentice Harry Potter. The Harry Potter books have been translated into more than 80 languages and have sold over 500 million copies. The eight movies of the same name made about the books grossed nearly $8 billion.
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