Unseen copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone sells for £37,000

In the past, we've seen first editions of J.K. Rowling's book Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone sell for some pretty insane amounts, with one going for a whopping £60,000 back in 2020. Now, a never-before-seen copy of the first book of the world-famous series, including pages from before the final proofreading, has sold for an incredible £37,000!

The book is thought to be the only known surviving manuscript, and includes uncorrected pages from the popular book that were sent before proof reading, and even contain comments by the series' first reviewer!

The original copy totals 109 sheets, and are described as likening young wizard Harry to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory's main character Charlie Bucket. The text was initially estimated to sell for £20,000, but has now been won by a private collector, who participated in the bidding war over the telephone from overseas, for almost double that amount.

In the industry, the text is referred to as gallery sheets. The recently sold sheets also contain comments made by children's book reviewer Fiona Waters, who first saw the book when it was sent by publisher Bloomsbury's Rosamund Walker in 1997.

Rosamund wrote: 'Dear Fiona, Harry Potter and The Philosophers Stone by Joanne Rowling. I have enclosed a manuscript for your interest as promised… I would really appreciate if you would let me know your comments for pre-publication quotes.'

Fiona reportedly responded a month later, writing: 'I just loved this book. There is something about Harry Potter that reminds me of Charlie Bucket in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.'

And, as they say, the rest its history!

Back in 2020, a first edition of the first Harry Potter book, which was initially valued at £30,000, sold for a massive £60,000 at auction. Sold by a British expat who lives in Luxembourg, the auctioneer Jim Spencer described the price it finally went for as "astonishing".

The expat, who wants to remained anonymous, revealed that he bought the book for his children, back in 1997 about 18 months after it was first published.

He continued: "I did not think mine would be valuable as it was certainly not purchased when first published. I was very surprised and shocked to see that it did in fact tick all the boxes, but still could not quite believe it until I checked with Jim Spencer.

"The Harry Potter books are truly iconic - in the very top tier of literature for children - and this first edition can only increase in value in the future."

Meanwhile the auctioneer told how he was thrilled at the amount the book had sold for, saying: "I hoped it would make £50,000 but to see it sail past that to reach £60,000 was astonishing."

According to the auctioneer's website, there were four phone bidders who competed against Internet bidders to buy the book.

Only 500 copies of the first edition were printed it and can be identified by the duplication of a phrase on page 53.

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