First edition Harry Potter book – sold for a tenner from bargain bucket – raises £55,104 at Derbyshire auction

The hardback copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, from the first Potter book print run in 1997, was spotted in a bargain bucket in a shop in a remote area of Scotland 26 years ago.

The seller bought it for £10 and even managed to get £2 knocked off the price. She kept in a cupboard under the stairs for years, just like the young Harry Potter who famously lived in a cupboard under the stairs in the Dursley’s house.

The forgotten treasure went under the hammer at Hansons Auctioneers today (December 11) and sold for a total price, with premium, of £55,104 to a private UK online buyer.

The recently retired 58-year-old manager, who sold the prized book, said: “I bought the Harry Potter book before anyone really knew much about it, or the author. I found it during a family caravan trip touring round the highlands of Scotland. I discovered a bookshop café on an isolated peninsula after driving miles on a single-track road in the north-west of Scotland.

“I recognised the distinctive book cover straight away. The book seller had placed it in a wicker ‘bargain bucket’ basket on the floor. Because it had no dust jacket, I got a couple of pounds knocked off the price. Our two children enjoyed the wizard tale as a bedtime story all through that holiday in 1997.”

Hansons’ books expert Jim Spencer said: “It’s a great result for a great find. This was a genuine, honest first issue and a fantastically well-preserved example. It was fresh to market and it deserved to go full steam like the Hogwart’s Express. Of the 500 first issue hardbacks printed, 300 went to schools and libraries in order to reach a bigger audience. This is one of the even scarcer 200 that went to bookshops."

This is the 19th hardback Philosopher’s Stone first edition out of the original 500 discovered by Jim Spencer, who works for the Derbyshire based auction house. They have sold at auction for between £17,500 and £69,000, plus buyer’s premium, dependent on condition. He has also uncovered numerous paperback first issues which have achieved as much as £8,500.