JK Rowling’s rare Harry Potter hand-written book set to fetch £500,000 at auction
The Tales of Beedle the Bard manuscript is studded with semi-precious stones and illustrated by the author
A RARE jewel-encrusted Harry Potter book hand-written by JK Rowling could fetch £500,000 at auction.
It is just one of seven hand-penned copies of The Tales of Beedle the Bard from the Potter author and it goes under the hammer at Sotheby's in London next month.
The leather-bound book, which Rowling has illustrated, is studded with semi-precious stones.
It was a gift from the author to Barry Cunningham who helped publish Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in 1997. He called the moment he was given the present "unreal".
Rowling's inscription says: “To Barry, the man who thought an overlong novel about a boy wizard in glasses might just sell… THANK YOU.”
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Of the seven manuscripts, six were produced for close friends and one for auction - it fetched £1.95million in 2007.
The latest work for sale will be on view in New York November 9-11 and London December 9-13.
It's expected to sell for between £300,000 and £500,000 on December 13 and proceeds will go to 51-year-old Rowling's charity Lumos.
Sotheby's director of books and manuscripts, Dr Philip W Errington, said: "It is particularly special as it is only one of six made for those closest to the author throughout the journey of creating the Harry Potter series."
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