A battered old Harry Potter book picked up from a charity shop for 50p is expected to sell for up to £3,000 at auction.
The rare first edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was printed in 1997 and is one of just 500 hardcover copies from the first edition.
It was filled with children’s doodles and was found among the dusty boxes of a charity shop in Manchester.
A near-pristine copy sold for more than £350,000 in December.
The novel by JK Rowling is being auctioned at Hansons in Staffordshire on Wednesday with a suggested asking price of £2,000-3,000.
“I didn’t know it was a first edition when I bought it,” said the seller, a Manchester businessman.
“I just discovered the cover with the magician’s picture and thought it was interesting. I found it in one of those traditional charity shops full of boxes.”
He said he later became curious and contacted the auctioneers to check if it was indeed a first edition.
“They confirmed that it was, which was a nice surprise to say the least,” he said.
The book will be sold together with a pristine copy of the same novel at an estimated target price of between £40,000 and £60,000.
The owner is a collector and kept the book in the dark in a protective sleeve for 25 years before deciding to sell it.
Auction house books expert Jim Spencer has unearthed various rare Harry Potter books.
He said: “When it comes to the condition, we’re looking at two very different books. One is like new, as good as it gets. The other was read until it broke, enjoyed countless times, and even happily illustrated by its young fan.
“The question is, who was loved the most? Or enjoyed the most? The damaged one probably tells its own important story.
“I always like to imagine historians of the future staring at something like this, the scribblings and the naïve fan art, the evidence that it’s been read over and over again – it would certainly give them a real sense of Harry Potter fever.” give.”
The first Harry Potter book tells the story of the young wizard’s days at Hogwarts Magic School, followed by a further six books that follow his adventures.
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