Harry Potter, a 33-year-old man from Waterlooville in southern England, sells his rare first copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. When he was 8 years old, his father immediately bought the book from the library, surprising that his son’s name was the same as that of the now famous magician.
Potter’s father heard his son’s name on the radio, says Sister Katie Sign Hansons AuctionsThe auction house that will sell the book. “When he found out it was not his son but an award winning children’s book, he immediately went to the local library and bought us a copy of it.”
Potter, who is now a father of three, had to convince people all his life that his name was really Harry Potter: “People don’t believe me. When I was playing football as a boy, the referee threatened a red card for saying my name was Harry Potter.” Nor did his wife believe it at first when they met on vacation in Greece.
When I was a kid playing football, the referee threatened me with a red card because I said my name was Harry Potter
rare
The copy that Harry and Katie’s father bought for his children turned out to be an extremely rare first copy, recognizable by the double “Wall 1” on page 53 and the version number “10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1”. Only 500 of them were printed, and 300 of them were donated to schools and libraries. An earlier copy of the first edition sold for £75,000.
Potter’s father has since died, prompting Harry and Katie to sell the book to spread their father’s ashes in Africa. “We think it’s time to use the money for the benefit of our family and fulfill our father’s wish,” Potter said.
Watch the trending news videos in the playlist below:
Unlimited free access to Showbytes? And that can!
Log in or create an account and never miss any of the stars.
