'Harry Potter' Book With Misspellings And Personal Notes Fetches £68,000 At Auction

Estimations from experts had valued the book at around £40,000 to £60,000 ahead of the sale, but the book reached a figure well above this at at Bonhams Auction House in Knightsbridge, west London, on Wednesday.

It's also the only novel in the popular wizarding franchise to call J. K. Rowling by her first name, Joanne.

On the back of the 1997 original, the title is misspelled 'Harry Potter and the Philospher's Stone'.

It also holds several other charming quirks including an incorrect number sequence on the imprint page and a duplication of '1 wand' on Harry's school equipment list.

J. K. Rowling's hand-inked signature is also attached on a sticker which the award-winning author included when the copy was sold passed onto two charities in 2003.

A Bonhams spokesperson confirmed numerous international buyers were hoping to bag the rare book ahead of the auction.

He said: "It is estimated to sell between £40,000 to £60,000. It isn't the most expensive Harry Potter book we have sold but it could possibly fetch for more than the estimation. It was donated by a private collected from the UK.

"Buyers from all over the world have expressed an interest and it's expected to sell in a few hours time."

Two buyers went head to head for the super rare book, placing bids online and on the phone.

In 2017 another first edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone sold for a record-breaking £106,000, £60,000 more than expected.

The book included a rare inscription addressed to J. K. Rowling's friend and her family which was dated one month after the book was published in June 1997.

It read: "For Meera, Donnie, Nastassia and Kai, with lots of love from Jo."