Harry Potter And The Philosopher StoneA rare first-edition copy of the first Harry Potter novel sold for more than £7,000 at auction today.
The copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was snapped up by a specialist book collector for £7,200 following a bidding war this afternoon.
The hardback copy, with an original price tag of £10.99, is one of only 500 produced in the first print run of the book in 1997.
A rare first-edition copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was sold for more than £7,000
The Philosopher's Stone by J K Rowling was the first instalment of the Harry Potter series that went on to become a publishing phenomenon.
The book was owned by Toby Rundle, 19, from Williton, Somerset, who was sent the book by his mother as a gift while he was at boarding school.
But the teenager wanted to cash in on the book and put the funds raised towards a classics and English degree at Oxford University.
The book was auctioned at Dominic Winter auctioneers in South Cerney, Gloucestershire. Including the buyer's premium the book fetched a total of £8,460.
Book specialist Chris Albury from the auctioneers said Toby's copy was a genuine rarity.
He said: "Usually popular books are not that rare.
"But a first edition copy of The Philosopher's Stone is a genuinely rare book.
"This is because that for some reason there was only a small print run of around 500 books.
"The majority went to public libraries and the amount that have ended up for sale is only around 100 copies - and that is a tiny amount.
"So few of these come up on the market that it is really nice to see a fresh copy."
The Harry Potter series has gone on to become a publishing sensation, with each new book resulting in children and adults alike queuing outside bookshops across the world.
Later this summer the seventh and final book in the series - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, will be released.
The book was bought by modern first edition collector David Beswick from Hull. Mr Albury said: "The sale went well, the bidding was not as fierce as we had hoped - it didn't get out of hand.
"The seller is very happy with the price. The Harry Potter memorabilia market has slowed down following a bit of a peak a few years ago."
He said that first edition copies of JRR Tolkien's Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit could be worth even more than Toby's Harry Potter first edition.
