If you happen to have a copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone at home, you may be in luck. A hardback British copy of the iconic book, released in 1997, was recently sold for US$471,000 (S$642,700) in an auction in the U.S. According to Reuters, auctioneers called the deal a "world record price" for a work of fiction published in the 20th century. Sold by an American collectorOnly 500 copies with the specific binding were printed. This particular copy had a colour illustration on the cover and was described by Heritage Auctions as "magical, incredibly bright and so very near pristine". The book's final price was more than six times the pre-sale estimate of US$70,000 (S$95,500). Reuters reported that previous auction prices for first edition copies of Harry Potter have ranged from about US$110,000 (S$150,000) to US$138,000 (S$188,000). Even online, one can see many listings for first edition copies of the first instalment of the now iconic series, with prices on eBay reaching up to US$13,200 (S$18,000) for a paperback version, and a less pristine hardback issue being sold for GBP 81,250 (S$147,00).  According to Reuters, the book was sold by an American collector, and the name of the buyer was not released. How to spot a first edition copyThe first edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone can be identified by a rare error on page 53 of the book. The protagonist Harry Potter was given a list of school supplies, and the item "1 wand" was repeated in the first edition of the book.
It was corrected in later editions of the book. A first impression copy of the book also has the number sequence "10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1" on the back of the title page. If you have a copy of the book with the rare error and the same number sequence, you just might be sitting on a gold mine. Follow and listen to our podcast here Top image via Sotheby's and thepriceofsalt/Twitter. Dallas — A rare first edition of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone sold Thursday at Heritage Auctions for $471,000, the highest price ever paid for the boy wizard's debut in any form. "And not only is the most expensive Harry Potter book ever sold, it's the most expensive commercially published 20th-century work of fiction ever sold," says Heritage Auctions Executive Vice President Joe Maddalena. "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was brought to life on the big screen two decades ago, and this result shows the power of that combination of literature and cinema. These books are being rewarded for the results of their films." After Rowling's debut was rejected by a dozen publishers, Bloomsbury printed just 500 hardback copies of Philosopher's Stone, with most bound for public libraries. The few copies that have surfaced at auction have become among the most coveted titles in modern literature, with two others selling in 2021 for more than $138,000. But Thursday's sale shattered all previous records. Live bidding opened at $75,000, but a protracted round of heated bidding drove the price higher and higher. And when the final sale price was announced, the auction room erupted with applause. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was but one star in Heritage Auctions' Firsts Into Film session held Thursday morning to kick-off the auction house's two-day Rare Books event. Heritage is offering 138 lots from a single collector who loved these movies first, then tracked down extraordinary copies of the original novels — each, among the very best available. The first session of the Dec. 9-10 Rare Books Signature® Auction featured 69 first editions adapted for the big and small screens. Those offerings alone surpassed the $1.375-million mark. That tally includes J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy — The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King, published between 1954 and 1955 — which shattered its previous auction record when it sold Thursday for $103,125. Even before live bidding began, the collection — in stunning condition, from the dust jackets to the pristine pages — had topped an auction record set 20 years ago. Precious, indeed. Another record-setting rarity available in this event was all seven of C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia titles sold in a single lot — each a first edition with original, unrestored dust jackets and every book signed by illustrator Pauline Baynes, who also collaborated with Tolkien. An assemblage like this is not likely to be seen again for a long, long time, which explains its final price of $100,000. Superstars abounded throughout the first session of the two-day event, including Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon, published in 1930 and one of the greatest crime novels ever written. A first edition of the book that helped make a star of Humphrey Bogart is a classic in its own right. This first edition sold for $47,500. Another beloved Brit's bow approached its auction record Thursday, when Ian Fleming's self-described "spy novel to end all spy novels", 1953's Casino Royale, sold for $42,500, the second-highest price ever paid for an unsigned copy of the landmark book. The book is in "gorgeous shape," says James Gannon, Heritage Auctions' Director of Rare Books, and was owned by someone who "didn't just hide it on a shelf but understood its literary significance and kept the first-issue blue dust jacket — notoriously susceptible to sunning — both bright and beautiful, while still enjoying the book." The session began with Jane Austen's three-volume Sense and Sensibility, which sold for $37,500. But no sooner had that title flown off the shelf when Austen's three-volume Pride and Prejudice, first published in 1813, opened live bidding at $16,000, sparking a heated round of bidding that drove the final price to $60,000. A stunning first edition of Harper Lee's novel To Kill a Mockingbird — signed by the author — opened live bidding at $15,500. It, too, sparked a bidding war that drove its final price to $35,000. And bidders fiercely completed for this golden ticket of modern literature, a first edition of Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It opened live bidding at $4,100, and just sold for $23,750. The power of pure imagination. How can I tell if my Harry Potter book is valuable?The print line on the copyright page must read “10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1”, ten down to one, exactly. The lowest figure in the print line indicates the printing. (For instance, if your copy has “20 19 18 17”, it's a less valuable seventeenth printing.)
How can you tell if a Harry Potter book is a first edition?US first editions will have the number line of 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 8 9/9 0/0 01 02," on the copyright page along with “Printed in the U.S.A.23" and "First American edition, October 1998". Prices for later editions in good condition are in three figures.
Are first edition Harry Potter books rare?A rare first edition of the first Harry Potter book can earn you tens of thousands of pounds. The hardcover first edition printings of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, the first book in the series, are valuable among collectors, according to AbeBooks. Only 500 were published - 300 of which went to libraries.
How much are first edition Harry Potter books worth UK?The first printed Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone Books are guaranteed to be worth something, the price will depend on the condition of the book. Copies in 'fair' condition could fetch up to £4000.
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Value of 1st edition harry potter books
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