The first edition of a Harry Potter book could sell for up to £10,000 at auction after being anonymously donated to a charity shop.
The copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was handed over to the RSPCA shop on the Isle of Wight and will go under the hammer at Hansons Auctioneers in Staffordshire on February 26th.
The auction house’s Harry Potter expert, Jim Spencer, estimated the value of the piece at between £7,000 and £10,000 due to its “exceptional condition”.
Mr Spencer said: ‘The only minor defects are a few slightly folded corners and the usual light browning to the page edges.
“It would be very difficult to find another example as well preserved as this one, so it deserves to make a splash at auction.”
Rebecca Busby, of the RSPCA’s Isle of Wight branch, said the book had been given to the shop by an anonymous donor as a possible first edition.
“One of our volunteers, an avid Harry Potter fan and book lover, was looking for all the known markings and noticed that this book had them all.
“She called me and I could hear her excitement as she said, ‘I can’t believe it, we have a first edition Harry Potter, it’s in the best condition I’ve ever seen.'”
Proceeds from the sale will benefit the store and one of the beneficiaries will be an 11-month-old Cockapoo dog named Harry who is looking for a new home.
A first edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was auctioned for £10,500 in July last year, while a pristine copy of the first edition sold for £69,000 in March 2022.
