A Harry Potter book is set to fetch thousands at auction after it was found in a carrier bag of children’s books at a Harrogate charity shop.
The rare first edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was donated to the Oxfam bookshop on Oxford Street this summer.
The shop’s manager, James Smith, said they received a number of Harry Potter books every week.
However, he had a feeling this one was different.
He said:
“It just came in a carrier bag of kids books. It’s in good condition, but it’s not shiny and new.
“A child has clearly read it and enjoyed it and then perhaps grown up and left home and told their parents to donate it to a charity shop without realising its value.”
Working his way through a ‘checklist’ of identifying features that mark it out as a first edition, Mr Smith said he was shaking when he was able to tick them all off.
The main characteristics of a 1997 first edition first issue are a print line that reads 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 and the crediting of “Joanne Rowling”, not JK.
Mr Smith added:
“On the back of the book the word ‘philosopher’s’ is misspelled in the title.
“On page 53 there is a list of school supplies Harry needs for Hogwarts. The item ‘1 wand’ is listed twice by mistake.
“When you open the first page, usually the Hogwarts crest is there. This one didn’t have it. That is what made me realise there is something different about this one. This is when you have to have eyes in the back of your head. We are always looking as we regularly get amazing things donated in Harrogate.
“When I opened the next page and saw the print line, I thought ‘oh my goodness we’ve got one’. It makes me quiver, just thinking about it.
“When I started looking at prices, there are some going for £10,000.”
The book is waiting to be catalogued at Tennants auctioneers, in Leyburn.
It has yet to be valued, but it has been given an estimation of around £3,000. It is expected to go under the hammer in November.
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