A RARE first edition Harry Potter is set to make thousands at auction – 27 years after its owner bought it for £3.50 at the book shop where she worked.
Jane Thompson-Webb, 52, purchased the book brand new from Ottakar’s Bookshop in Birmingham for £4.99 in 1997 – minus a 30 per cent staff discount.
She kept the copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone on a bookshelf for almost three decades but has now decided to part with it after a clear-out.
The paper-back copy is now expected to fetch up to £5,000 when it goes under the hammer at Richard Winterton Auctioneers, in Lichfield, Staffordshire.
The original book comes with a misspelled ‘Philospher’s’ on the back cover and the author credited as Joanne Rowling instead of JK Rowling.
Jane, of Erdington, Birmingham, said: “I bought it for myself while I was working in Ottakar’s Bookshop in Birmingham.
“When the first Harry Potter was released we reviewed it for an in-house newsletter.
“I was 27 at the time and bought it because I wanted to read it – I’ve always read children’s stories.
“I remember people coming to buy the book before Christmas.
“But what’s really vivid is how many parents with young boys came in after Christmas, with the boys asking when the next book was coming out because they wanted to read the next story.
“That book got boys reading.”
Jane still remains a Harry Potter fan to this day and keeps hardback copies of all the series.
Her original soft cover first edition the Philosopher’s Stone has ‘been sitting quite happily on my bookshelf’ for the past 20-plus years.
Jane, a conservation manager for Birmingham Museums Trust, decided to send it to auction following a clear-out at home.
It will go under the hammer on September 9.
Auctioneer Richard Winterton said: “This is an exceptional copy and we anticipate a huge amount of interest at auction.
“If you think you have a first edition of the book – either in soft cover or hard cover – there are certain vital things to look out for.
“I go straight to the back cover, where there should be a letter ‘o’ missing from the word philosopher’s. It reads ‘Acclaim for Harry Potter and the Philospher’s Stone’.
“It also refers to ‘Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft’ – this was later swapped round to ‘Witchcraft and Wizardry’.
“Check that the publisher is Bloomsbury and the latest date listed in the copyright information is 1997.
“The print line on the copyright page should read “10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1” and in the copyright information for the cover illustration of Thomas Taylor 1997, there is no gap between his surname and the date: ‘Taylor1997’.
“Like all early printings of the title, it also credits text copyright to Joanne Rowling.
“Another good one to spot is on page 53, which features a list of school supplies Harry receives from Hogwarts.
“The item ‘1 wand’ appears twice, at the start and again at the end.
“We have estimated this book at £3,000 to £3,500 but hope it could get to the £5,000 because the condition is stunning.”
Still got your childhood toy collection in a box in the loft? It could be worth a small fortune.
BBC Bargain Hunt expert Tim Weeks, is a toy specialist at Wessex Auction Rooms.
He says that TV & film-related toys are always the most sought after.
Star Wars, Batman, Transformers, James Bond, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, My Little Pony and Thundercats are some of the big names.
Crucially, they don’t even have to be in mint condition.
“I have regularly sold these figures for hundreds and sometimes thousands when on their original backing cards, but even a collection of unboxed figures can fetch big money,” Tim says.
Most toys from the 70s, 80s and 90s will not be in mint condition and there is still a fantastic market of buyers wanting them.
If you want to think ahead, though, and invest in toys to sell in the future, it’s definitely worth your while keeping them pristine.
While all forms of condition will be saleable, give yourself the best chance possible to maximise the return by keeping your investments as near mint as you can.
Also, take into account how the toy will display when deciding what you should buy.
