First edition Harry Potter book rescued from a skip sells for £33,000 at auction

A Harry Potter hardback first edition rescued from a school skip has sold for £33,000 at Hansons Auctioneers in Etwall, Derbyshire.

Seven telephone bidders battled with internet bidders in a tense auction which saw the hammer finally fall at £33,000 - way beyond its estimate.

The book was brought by a private UK buyer.

The seller, who wishes to remain anonymous, was a 65-year-old teacher and grandmother who spotted the book in the skip and couldn’t bear for it to go to waste.

Of the 500 hardback first editions of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone printed in 1997, around 300 were sent to British schools and libraries and some reached private book shops.

They all contain various printing errors, corrected in later versions.