Bargain bucket Harry Potter book 'worth £60,000'

The book is to be auctioned on 11 December

A Harry Potter first edition found in a Highland bookshop's bargain bucket could be worth £60,000, according to auctioneers selling it.

The hardback copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone - the first book in JK Rowling's stories about a boy wizard - was published in 1997.

Hansons Auctioneers said it was one of 200 copies distributed to shops from the book's first-ever print run, with a recommended retail price of £10.

A Scottish woman, who lives near Edinburgh but has not been named, found the book during a family caravan holiday in Wester Ross in the late 1990s - shortly before Rowling's stories became a global phenomenon.

Hansons expect the copy to sell for an estimated £40,000 to £60,000 when it is auctioned on 11 December.

The seller, a 58-year-old retired manager, bought the book at a bookshop café at the end of a single-track road near Ullapool.

She recognised the author's name having previously read an interview with Rowling in The Scotsman newspaper.

She said: "The book seller had placed it in a wicker ‘bargain bucket’ basket on the floor.

"Because it had no dust jacket, I got a couple of pounds knocked off the price.

"Our two children enjoyed the wizard tale as a bedtime story all through that holiday in 1997.”

Harry Potter books expert Jim Spencer with the book, which for years was stored in a cupboard under stairs

The book is one of 200 copies printed for sale in shops

Since her purchase, the retired manager has kept the copy in a cupboard under stairs at her home.

In Philosopher's Stone, Harry Potter sleeps in a cupboard under stairs in the house where he lives.

Hansons said the hardback was one of the rarest and most prized Potter books, and the "holy grail" for collectors.

Harry Potter books expert Jim Spencer said: “These first issues are getting harder and harder to find.

"This must be one of the few remaining copies that’s been in private hands since it was purchased in 1997.

“It’s a genuine, honest copy - and a fantastically well-preserved example."

The Harry Potter books are among the best-selling of all time, having sold more than 600 million copies worldwide.

They were turned into films, which starred Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, and there are now plans for a TV series.

Auctioneers have described the book as rare and likely to be prized by collectors