Amazon bought J.K. Rowling’s handwritten copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard at auction.
Rowling produced seven handwritten and illustrated copies of the story collection in 2007. Six were given to people closely connected with the Harry Potter books, while one was offered at auction through Sotheby’s to raise money for the charity formerly known as the Children’s High Level Group.
Amazon purchased the unique auction copy for £1.95 million in December 2007. The sale made it one of the world’s most expensive modern literary manuscripts at the time. The proceeds supported the charity’s work for vulnerable children.
The book later became available in an ordinary printed edition. Within the Harry Potter story, Beedle’s tales are wizarding fairy tales, and Hermione receives a copy in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The fictional book and Rowling’s real handwritten charity edition are connected, but they are not the same physical object.