Most expensive Harry Potter novel in the world sells for Rs 3.56 crores

A world record has been set as the "Harry Potter” first edition was sold for $471,000 (nearly Rs 3.56 crores) in the United States on Thursday Thursday. Auctioneers said it was a world record price for a 20th-century work of fiction, reported by Reuters.

The hardback 1997 British edition of “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone," with a colour illustration on the cover, as defined by Heritage Auctions as “magical, incredibly bright and so very near pristine." 

The book named "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" was published in the United States.

Only 500 copies with the specific binding were printed, the Dallas auction house said. The final price was more than six times the $70,000 pre-sale estimate.

Harry Potter first edition auction prices have previously ranged from around $110,000 to $138,000.

"Not only is it the most expensive Harry Potter book ever sold, it’s the most expensive commercially published 20th-century work of fiction ever sold," Heritage Auctions Executive Vice President Joe Maddalena said in a statement as mentioned by Reuters.

The book was sold by an American collector, whose identity has not been revealed.

British author J.K. Rowling wrote six more books on the adventures of the orphaned boy wizard that have sold around 500 million copies in 80 languages worldwide, as per U.S. publisher Scholastic. Eight films have been made which earned $7.8 billion at the global box office.