Harry Potter sample book 'could fetch £3k'

A rare first edition of the first Harry Potter book, which was sent to a school as a sample for children to rate, is going under the hammer.

The previous owner of the copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was part of a book-testing scheme.

J K Rowling's debut children's novel was sent out for children to read and rate as part of the Smarties Book Awards.

The Plymouth pupils were said to be entranced by the book and the teacher recalled children often stayed late to read "just one last page" and voted it the best book in the scheme, according to the auctioneers.

The current owner bought the copy at a book fair, auctioneers said.

Plymouth Auction Rooms is selling the well-thumbed paperback copy on April 29 with an estimate of £2,000 to £3,000.

Martha Colesman, assistant cataloguer and valuer, said it was one of 5,000 first edition paperbacks published and had attracted "a lot of interest".

It has a series of distinctive features including the author's name "Joanne Rowling" listed on the title page, the misspelling of "Philosopher's" as "Philospher's" on the back cover and the double printing of the words "1 wand" on page 53.

Earlier this year a rare first edition of the same book which was set to be thrown away, went under the hammer for more than £21,000 at NLB Auctions in Paignton.

Another rare copy sold for £36,000 decades after the owner bought it for £10.

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