Books

First edition, only printing, inscribed by the author on the first page: "J. K. Rowling / to Sam! x". The souvenir auction catalogue includes many photographs of the manuscript and a short introduction by the author. With the conclusion of the Harry Potter series in July 2007, J. K. Rowling decided that, having made reference to a book of wizarding fairy-tales within Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, she would write The Tales of Beedle the Bard and present individually handwritten copies to six people most closely connected to the series of books. A seventh copy was created for sale at auction to raise funds for "The Children's Voice" charity (now Lumos). The auction house published a souvenir catalogue and, as part of pre-sale publicity, there was a party held on 10 December 2007. During the event the author was kept busy greeting guests and also read one of the stories. Despite these demands on her time, a small number of copies of the souvenir catalogue were signed for a few guests. After a long and protracted bidding war, the successful bidder secured the manuscript for £1.95 million on 13 December 2007 which is, currently, a world record for a modern literary manuscript and a world record for a children's book. In 2008 The Tales of Beedle the Bard was published, but this had not been the author's original intention. This souvenir catalogue was to have been the only insight into the manuscript. Small octavo. Original white wrappers, lettering to spine in white and to covers in blue, wrappers with design embossed in blue. Illustrations from photographs throughout. A fine copy. Errington B15(a).

The Tales of Beedle the Bard is a collection of children's stories by British author J.K. Rowling. It is a supplementary book to the Harry Potter series and was first mentioned in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the final book of the series. The book purports to be the same children's storybook that belonged to the character Hermione Granger within the fictional universe of Harry Potter, containing five fairy tales that have underlying significance to the themes and characters of the series.