First-Edition ‘Harry Potter’, ‘Lord Of The Rings’ Books Fetch Six-Figure Sums
Image via Heritage Auctions
Last week, first-edition copies of Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, and the Chronicles of Narnia hit the auction block—fetching six figure sums after rounds of “heated bidding.”
These books were part of Heritage Auction’s Rare Books Signature Auction, which consisted of nearly 70 first editions from a collector’s library. All the titles featured in the sale were literary works that have been adapted for the silver screen.
Image via Heritage Auctions
The most expensive book, a volume of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, sold for US$471,000. The copy was one of the first 500 hardcover books of JK Rowling’s famed novel published in 1997.
“It’s the most expensive commercially published 20th-century work of fiction ever sold. This result shows the power of that combination of literature and cinema,” said Joe Maddalena, Executive Vice President of Heritage Auctions.
According to CNET, bids for the book started at US$75,000 but eventually soared to over six times the amount. Maddalena said, “When the final sale price was announced, the auction room erupted with applause.”
Image via Heritage Auctions
As previously reported, the earliest edition of the first Harry Potter title was printed with several typos and an erroneous number sequence on the publisher’s imprint page, quirks that could have raised its value.
Image via Heritage Auctions
Other books that went under the hammer included a set of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, which sold for US$103,125. Another lot, consisting of all seven volumes in CS Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia, went for US$100,000 in total.
Additionally, a first edition of Jane Austen’s famed Sense and Sensibility fetched US$37,500 while Pride and Prejudice was sold for US$60,000.
[via CNET, images via Heritage Auctions]
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