A bid of £13,000 fell short of the reserve price of an original proof of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone rediscovered at a primary school.
The book was found during the summer at St Kenelm's Primary School in Minster Lovell, Witney, Oxfordshire. It was bought for £1 in 1997.
It went under the hammer at Hansons Auctioneers but failed to sell. The book has a plain yellow and white cover, and lists the author as “J. A Rowling” on the title page. Former head teacher Bob Alder, 75, said the book was originally bought from a bookshop sale to give the children an “early taste” of the Harry Potter story.
“The teachers did share it with the children and they loved it – but it didn't get picked up much,” he said.
He came across the book, which was kept safely before going missing in 2015, while tidying out a school cupboard during the summer holidays. The school had decided to sell the book to help students “further develop their own love of literature” through new books and updated equipment.
Mr Alder said finances were tight at the school and the sale would have provided a valuable boost to resources. Jim Spencer, head of books at Hansons Auctioneers, said: “The plain cover evidently didn't inspire many, if any, takers, and so it has survived remarkably well.
“As soon as Harry Potter mania developed, the school wisely removed it from the borrowing shelves.”
The uncorrected proof copy is one of only 200 printed by Bloomsbury in 1997. Mr Spencer said: “This book is where it all began. This is the very first appearance in print of the first Harry Potter novel.
“The author's signing tours, the midnight queues outside bookshops, the movies, the merchandise – it all stems from this.” The book was auctioned alongside a proposed illustrated cover of the first Harry Potter book and a 15th anniversary competition prize edition of the book, signed and dedicated by Rowling.
— CutC by bbc.com
