Hogwarts Herald

Some rare Harry Potter books are being auction via live auction (includes eBay Live) by Bloomsbury Auctions on Saturday, January 23, 2009. A rare proof copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (i.e. Sorcerer’s Stone in the United States) is one of the items.This proof copy is one of only 200 that exist. It is an unedited version of the book that includes errors, such as J.A. Rowling on the title page. It is a nice Harry Potter collector’s item, but boy are proofs boring looking. The cover is mostly white with just a yellow stripe. I guess it could be more boring being entirely just white. This one starts at £1400 and is estimated to be valued between £2,800 and £3,200.

Also on Saturday they are auctioning First Edition Signed Copy of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and a First Edition Signed Copy of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. These both start at £150 and are estimated at between £300 and £400.

The BBC reports that Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is the second most “unread” book in the UK. Meaning…it’s a book often not finished in whole by those who bought it.

According to this study 32% of people who bought Goblet of Fire admitted to not finishing it. Really, though, if you stop to think about it, this is just a matter of numbers. It has large “unread” numbers because it has astronomical sales numbers in the first place. Anytime you have a book as popular and hyped as the Harry Potter books are, you’re going to have people that buy them just to buy them. They see them in the book shop and say, “Oh, there’s the new Harry Potter…I should buy it.” But if they haven’t yet finished the second or third book…or are new to the Potter series, they may not get around to reading it.

Also working against Goblet of Fire is it’s length. Let’s face it…there are a lot of people who think they can make their way through a 700+ page book, but they end up just not having the stamina or attention span for it. Even though the pages may turn at lightning speed for fans of the series, if you’re not invested in the series 700 pages can be a little daunting.

Although Goblet of Fire ends up on this list of “unread” books, it’s hardly a strike against the book itself.

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