Harry Potter first edition auctioned off for $470K – CNET [CNET]

A first edition copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was sold for $471,000 at Heritage Auctions in Dallas on Thursday. The book was one of the first 500 hard cover copies of JK Rowling’s novel published by Bloomsbury in 1997.

“It’s the most expensive commercially published 20th-century work of fiction ever sold,” said Joe Maddalena, Heritage Auctions Executive VP. “This result shows the power of that combination of literature and cinema.”

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Other copies from that batch sold for around $138,000 this year. Bidding for this copy opened at $75,000 but resulted in a “round of heated bidding,” Heritage Auctions said. “When the final sale price was announced, the auction room erupted with applause.”

It was part of Heritage Auction’s Rare Books Signature Auction, where almost 70 first editions are being sold off from a single collector’s library. The books featured were all literary works that have been translated into popular movies.

Also auctioned off Thursday was a copy of JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy, which sold for $103,125. A lot of all seven books in CS Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia sold for $100,000.

Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility sold for $37,500 while the author’s Pride and Prejudice sold for $60,000; The Maltese Falcon sold for $47,500; and a copy of Casino Royale sold for $42,500.

A signed first edition of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird sold for $35,000, while Charlie and the Chocolate Factory went for $23,750.