"Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" which happens to be an unique first edition of annotated by author J.K. Rowling has sold for a record 150,000 pounds ($227,421) at a London charity auction, as informed by Sotheby’s who furthered in a statement that the 1997 book which has been featuring handwritten notes, 22 original illustrations as well as a 43-page “second thoughts” commentary by the author, experienced the highest price to date for a printed book by Rowling.  

"Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" was the first in a series of seven novels by Rowling, dealing with the adventures of a boy wizard living in a world of “muggles” and magic.

The auction house mentioned the sale room resulted as silent on Tuesday as buyers engaged in a bidding war for the coveted book, which eventually went to a unidentified buyer bidding over the telephone.

Another noteworthy factor which came into prominence is that the full sale featured 51 first editions, all unique one-offs featuring annotations at the same time commentary from authors, as part of the “First Editions, Second Thoughts” sale to benefit charity organization English PEN, which is involved in promoting freedom of expression.

Roald Dahl’s “Matilda” with new illustrations by Quentin Blake for 30,000 pounds ($45,470), Kazuo Ishiguro’s “The Remains of the Day” for 18,000 pounds ($27,278) and Julian Barnes’ “Metroland” for 14,000 ($21,216) remains as the other top sellers.

Another arousing fact that needs to be noted that only 500 first editions of “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” persist, making them the rarest of the series, which undoubtedly have become the best-selling book series ever.
Now, the fact that needs to be added here which in fact remain as a prevalent truth that it's adaptation have resulted into making of a multibillion-dollar film franchise.

As a special mention, the total sale fetched 439,000 pounds which is otherwise $665,410!

That's a remarkable record indeed!

Content source:Khaleej Times
Image source: Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone -  Sotheby’s

(AW:Samrat Biswas)