A HARRY Potter book bought for a tenner in a Kenilworth bookshop fetched £36,000 at auction.
Christine McCulloch bought the copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone back in 1997 for her son Adam during a family holiday to south Warwickshire.
Christine had seen author JK Rowling being interviewed on Blue Peter and snapped the book up when she saw an eye-catching window display at a bookshop in Talisman Square.
But the now retired nurse from Derbyshire had no idea she had bought what would become one of the most valuable books in the world – the rarest and most sought-after Potter tome.
It was a first edition and one of only 500 hardback copies published in the first ever Potter book print-run, and it started the ball rolling on the Harry Potter phenomenon.
Valued at £30,000 to £50,000, it was offered in the world’s first Harry Potter Auction at Rare Book Auctions in Staffordshire. The anonymous buyer paid £45,000 in total with the buyer’s premium.
The book’s now former owner, Adam McCulloch, a 35 year-old musician and marketing manager from Derbyshire, said: “For a time the book ended up in a cupboard under the stairs in our old house – like Harry Potter! I did have the luxury of an actual bedroom but kept some things in the cupboard under the stairs, including the book. It always felt a bit precious. It’s a good job as it could easily have been among the books passed along to friends or family as I got older.
“The real moment of discovery about its value came during lockdown in 2020. I was living in Sheffield and my sister and mum were back home in Chesterfield. They’d seen stories about first editions and, because we’d never really checked, followed steps laid out by books expert Jim Spencer in an article explaining how to identify a first edition.”
Christine and daughter Rachael checked and double double checked the book was really a first edition before contacting Adam.
Adam added: “The funds will allow me to spend more quality time with my partner, Jen, and my family. I want to give mum some new family memories. We enjoy visiting Northumberland, so a trip to Alnwick Castle, the filming location for Hogwarts, would be an apt way to celebrate. I also plan to grab lots of books for my nieces, Olive, Isla and Elle, so they, hopefully, will turn into bookworms like their Uncle Ad.”
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