The book has been read multiple times and has been sitting on a bookshelf for years
A man who was given a rare Harry Potter first edition as a child is set for a windfall after putting it on sale. Naveed Younas, now 37, received the book as a present when he was a child, but the paperback had been gathering dust on a shelf for years.
It has several mistakes in the text, which increase its rarity – and value. And now it’s predicted to sell for thousands of pounds.
“I liked it very much, I read it quite a lot and went on to read the other Harry Potter books,” Naveed said. “It has been left on my shelf for a few years now and I thought this would be a good time to pass it on to someone else who will appreciate it.”
There were 5,150 copies of the first edition, first impression softcover of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, printed by Bloomsbury in June 1997. Expert Robert French said: “This well-thumbed example has clearly been much-loved and read repeatedly – exactly what it was printed to do.
“There are some interesting anomalies which identify a first edition first printing of the book, either soft or hard cover. For example, on page 53 is a list of school supplies Harry receives from Hogwarts, where ‘1 wand’ appears twice, at the start and again at the end.
On the back cover, there is a letter ‘o’ missing from the word philosopher’s and it also refers to ‘Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft’, which was later swapped around to ‘Witchcraft and Wizardry’. The most obvious tell-tale sign that you do not have a first impression is if the bottom of the front cover states that the book is ‘a Triple Smarties Gold Award Winner’!”
Five hundred hardback copies containing the same text were also issued. The book is being auctioned by Richard Winterton Auctioneers, in Lichfield, Staffs, on 13 April.
It is estimated at £3,000 to £4,000.
