That’s quite a return on one’s investment! Of course, someone picking up a bargain book about a boy wizard is probably not thinking of its monetary investment value. My investment in buying and reading the Harry Potter books has paid priceless dividends but I have not received even a single penny from the experience. But …read more!

Imagine if your name were Harry Potter and a book came out where the titular character shared your name. That would be kinda neat, huh? Then imagine the book becomes a series that inspires movies, a theme park, a global fandom, a play, and, uh, a few fan websites. All prominently sporting your name. At …read more!

Before the boy wizard flew his Nimbus 2000 to worldwide fame, Bloomsbury, the book’s publisher, was uncertain that the magical tale would be a success and demonstrated its skepticism by printing only 500 copies of the first edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. We all know what happened next. The global popularity of …read more!

Leaky has reported on the eye-watering prices that first editions and signed or otherwise rare books and memorabilia in the Harry Potter series have fetched at auction. Often, these books turn up at library sales or in skips without the owners having been aware that they are valuable. Getting tens of thousands of pounds for …read more!

***UPDATE*** This book sold for £ 118,812 (US$ 148,118). First editions of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, both signed and unsigned, have fetched breathtaking amounts at auction over the years.  But the copy going under the hammer tomorrow at Bonhams, with bidding expected to reach £70,000-90,000, is particularly special:  It’s signed to Bryony Evens, the office manager …read more!

Following up on our report that a first edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone would be up for auction at the end of July, we can now inform you that the book sold for £28,500.  Rare first editions  of the Harry Potter books have been selling for stratospheric prices at auction.  Just over a year ago, another …read more!

Leaping liquorice wands, that’s a lot of galleons! A first edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was recently snapped up by an American collector for £56,250 at Bonhams auction house in London.  The hardcover book, published by Bloomsbury in 1997, was purchased, appropriately enough, by an 11-year-old schoolgirl at Harrowgate railway station in North Yorkshire.  She …read more!

A first edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, stored in a red box and thought to be worth about £40,000, was one of 12 rare books taken in a break-in at SN Books on the night of 8-9 January. First editions of The Hobbit and The Great Gatsby, as well as a signed copy …read more!