A rare hardback first edition of “Harry Potter” dating to its 1997 publication sells at auction for a large sum, with reports saying only about 500 copies are known. Outlet coverage describes the copy as a first printing and notes its scarcity as a key reason for the high price.
Different outlets report the final sale in different currencies, reflecting the same underlying auction result. The New York Post cites a figure close to $400,000, while the Manchester Evening News reports the sale price as £300,000. Both accounts emphasize that the book’s rarity—linked to the limited number of known surviving copies—drives strong collector demand.
No additional details about the buyer or the auction house are provided in the cited summaries. The reporting is focused on the book’s identification as a first edition/first printing and the record-level pricing attributed to its scarcity.
