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, Sister Katie Sayn told Hansons Auctioneers, the auction house that would sell the book. “When he found out that 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, 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 because I said my name is Harry Potter.” Nor did his wife believe it at first when they met on vacation in Greece.
When I was a kid in football, the referee threatened me with a red card for saying 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, identifiable 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 believe it is time to use the money to serve our family and fulfill our father’s wish,” Potter said.
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