Rare proof copy of 1st Harry Potter book bought for £1 found in school clear out
A first proof of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone which is so unedited that the author’s name is spelled wrong has been found in a primary school.
St Kenelm’s Primary School in Oxfordshire found the book, which it bought for £1 in 1997, during a summer tidy-up. The ‘Uncorrected Proof Copy’ is one of only 200 printed by Bloomsbury in 1997.
The school feared it had been accidentally thrown away after it had been missing for eight years but it turned up, to the delight of pupils and staff. The book is such an early example that it even gets the author’s name wrong, stating ‘J A Rowling’ instead of J K Rowling.
It went under the hammer at Hansons Auctioneers with a guide price of £15,000-£20,000 on Tuesday.
Jim Spencer, head of books at Hansons said: “This book is where it all began. This is the very first appearance in print of the first Harry Potter novel. The title page states the author’s name as as ‘J A Rowling’, and, on the other side, ‘Joanne Rowling’.
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Jim Spencer with the rare Harry Potter book (Hansons / SWNS)
The famous author's name is misspelled on the first page (Hansons / SWNS)“It’s believed just 200 copies of this book were printed by Bloomsbury. This modest little paperback is the beginning of it all. The author’s signing tours, the midnight queues outside bookshops, the movies, the merchandise – it all stems from this.
"This copy bears a stamp for St Kenelm’s School. It has decided to sell the book, which was originally put on the shelves of the library for pupils to read. The plain cover evidently didn’t inspire many, if any, takers, and so it has survived remarkably well. As soon as Harry Potter mania developed, the school wisely removed it from the borrowing shelves.”
He added: "Hansons has sold hardback Philosopher’s Stone first editions for prices ranging from £15,500 to £69,000 dependant on condition. I’m guiding this Uncorrected Proof Copy at £15,000-20,000. However, bearing in mind its place in history, it could surprise us all.”
Bob Alder, 75, the school's retired headteacher, added: “The book was purchased by St Kenelm’s Primary School in 1997 from Red House Books Ltd, which held an annual sale of books from its warehouse in Witney. Local schools, nurseries and play groups had the first choice of books in the sale.
"Books were usually about half price, some even less, and the school would purchase something like 50 books in each of the annual sales. It was quite by luck that the Harry Potter was spotted in the sale. It had none of the attractiveness of a typical child’s paperback. It cost £1.
"Consequently, it was removed from the shelves, packaged, and put somewhere safe. In 2015 it went missing and there was concern it had been thrown away in a clear out of old and damaged paperbacks.
“The book was rediscovered in 2023 during a tidy up, and knowing there were only 200 copies issued, it seemed time for it to find a new owner who would properly value it as the beginning of what has become an international phenomenon and also know that he or she will be helping fund children in St Kenelm’s School to further develop their own love of literature.
Despite the rarity of the book it failed to sell at auction.
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