A set of signed first edition Harry Potter books has gone up for auction for a ridiculous amount of money. The first book in the series by author J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, was first published on June 26, 1997. The seventh and final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, was published a decade later on July 14, 2007. During the books' run, Harry Potter became one of the biggest pop culture franchises in the world, with the films grossing over $33 billion in the United States alone.
As the franchise has such an avid fanbase, Harry Potter memorabilia — from Rowling's personal possessions to props from the movies — has gone on to fetch thousands of dollars in past auctions. In 2021, Heritage Auctions sold a first edition hardcover of The Sorcerer's Stone for $471,000, when the initial bid began at $75,000. The most expensive Harry Potter item to ever be sold was a one-in-seven copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard, handwritten and illustrated by Rowling, which was sold at Sotheby's for $483,906 in December of 2016.
Recently listed at Christie's, a complete set of signed Harry Potter first edition novels was put up for auction with an estimated £100,000 - 150,000 price point (approximately $118,758 - $178,138). The set includes a very rare first impression of The Sorcerer's Stone, which features a typo on page 53, and a misspelling of the word "Philosopher's" (which takes the place of "Sorcerer's" in the book's title when sold in the United Kingdom and elsewhere) on the book's lower board. There are only 500 copies of this Harry Potter impression, 300 of which were sent to libraries. This listing is the first signed set to appear at auction to include the first print Sorcerer's Stone since 2014.
While most books in the auction listing are simply signed by Rowling, the second book, The Chamber of Secrets, features a personalized message, which reads "To Tessa MacGregor, with best wishes." While highly personalized author messages, such as those that include the names of the recipients, often affect an item's value at auction, it seems that this isn't the case at this Harry Potter book auction. The set is estimated to sell for almost $180,000. The seller of the series intends on donating a portion of the listing's sale to the Lumos Foundation, a charity which seeks to end the institutionalization of children.
Because of Rowling's sharp decline in popularity in recent years after sharing controversial opinions that have been called out as transphobic and homophobic, Harry Potter memorabilia isn't as highly valued as it has been in the past. Earlier this year, iconic glasses and wand used by Daniel Radcliffe in the Harry Potter films went up for auction, and expect to sell for between just $8,000 and $12,000. While this is still no small amount, it's not much compared to what other major film franchises have sold their own memorabilia for. It remains to be seen how much this Harry Potter book set will actually be sold for at Christie's, but even at the lowest estimate, it will likely be an incredibly impressive amount.
Source: Christie's