A rare copy of the first Harry Potter adventure could fetch up to £70,000 – because the editing is not exactly wizard.
It is one of an edition of just 500 copies of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone featuring errors and printed on cheap paper.
The 1997 hardbacks were mostly sent to libraries and now one has surfaced on eBay. An industry source said: “These are like gold dust.”
The seller hopes it will eclipse the £40,000 selling price of similar first editions of JK Rowling’s books.
The back of the book spells the word Philosopher’s with a missing ‘o’ and refers to the Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft instead of the correct Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
A mistake on page 53 lists ‘wand’ twice in a list of equipment needed for Hogwarts.
The Birmingham seller says: “This edition has been printed on cheap paper stock.” They add: “We have seen copies that look like a truck ran over them which was not the case with this copy.”
In May a hardback first edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone sold for £33,000 at auction.
A teacher had found it in a skip during a school clearout – along with two Potter paperbacks which went for £3,400 and £3,000.
