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UK library may reclaim £42,500 Harry Potter book sold in USA

A UK library in Portsmouth will attempt to reclaim an old Harry Potter book after it sold at auction for £42,500 ($55,000).

The first edition Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone has a “Portsmouth City Library Service” stamp and a reference number written inside, proving it is the book the library has said went missing from its collection.

The book was sold by a Californian seller via Heritage Auctions in Dallas, Texas, for more than double its original estimate.

It was just one of 500 hardback first editions of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone that had been printed, and the library said it had never been officially checked out.

A stamp inside appears to be from August 1997, before the wizard book series became popular.

Eric Bradley, Heritage Auctions’ public relations director, said: “People actually really cherish those stamps and markings because it sets a provenance for the book. If the Portsmouth library was interested in getting it back… I think it would set a precedent, because I think it would be the first time a library took a serious case to reclaim a Harry Potter book. It would really open the floodgates for others who own the books.”

The library service said: “Our records show that this book was originally owned by Portsmouth’s school library service and was one of three first editions we purchased in 1997 when the first Harry Potter story was published.

“In 2004 we sold two copies to raise funds for the library service but the third copy was missing. Now we know the whereabouts of the book… we’re looking into our options and whether we might be able to reclaim the book.”

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