They were gifted by JK Rowling to a school librarian (Picture: Hansons / SWNS)
Two Harry Potter books that were left on a shelf for twenty years are now worth thousands of pounds.
In 1999 JK Rowling gave a talk to pupils from Millfield Preparatory School in Glastonbury.
After a question and answer session, Rowling gave signed copies of the first two Harry Potter novels to the school librarian, Janette Tuckwell.
Janette had kept the books on a dusty shelf for 23 years and only recently thought about putting them up for auction.
The novels are now expected to reach between £1,500 and £2,000 when they are sold by Hansons Auctioneers.
Janette recalled Rowling’s visit to the school: ‘They told me they had a children’s author coming to the shop and would I Iike to arrange for pupils to come along.
‘I said yes and, together with an English teacher, took a Year 6 class of 10 and 11 years old to the store.
Rowling signed the books after a question and answer session (Picture: Hansons / SWNS)
The books will be sold with an original photo of Rowling with the class (Picture: Hansons / SWNS)
‘The children’s author turned out to be JK Rowling, author of the Harry Potter books.
‘At that time, her books were popular but the Potter phenomenon hadn’t gone global.
‘She was brilliant with the pupils. I remember being very impressed by her dedication and the way she handled the children’s questions.
‘If they asked something about the books she would refer to a character or plot line to make sure they had read it. She was very thorough and professional.
‘I took a photo of her with the pupils and she signed two books for me. They have been gathering dust on a book shelf for more than 20 years but, after reading an article about how sought after Potter books are, I decided to contact Hansons Auctioneers.’
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They were gifted by JK Rowling to a school librarian.
