--- title: Handwritten Harry Potter Story Goes for $470,000 at Auction description: A handwritten copy of the J.K. Rowling story The Tales of Beedle the Bard sold for $470,000 at a Sotheby's auction in London. canonical: https://time.com/4602159/handwritten-harry-potter-story-auction/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-12-14T19:15:44.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:39:28.925Z og:title: Harry Potter Story Handwritten by J.K. Rowling Goes for $470,000 at Auction og:description: It includes 6,000 handwritten words og:url: https://time.com/4602159/handwritten-harry-potter-story-auction/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt57f109d49fde544e/6988b2efe20a87c9e2a9387f/tales-of-beedle-the-bard.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Sotheby's Preview A Rare Copy Of JK Rowling's "Tales Of Beedle the Bard" og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Harry Potter Story Handwritten by J.K. Rowling Goes for $470,000 at Auction twitter:description: It includes 6,000 handwritten words twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt57f109d49fde544e/6988b2efe20a87c9e2a9387f/tales-of-beedle-the-bard.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # This Rare _Harry Potter_ Book Went for $470,000 at Auction  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Dec 14, 2016 7:15 PM UTC  The third of only seven copies of J K Rowling's handwritten and personally illustrated 'The Tales of Beedle the Bard' is displayed at Sotheby's auction house on December 9, 2016 in London, England. The third of only seven copies of J K Rowling's handwritten and personally illustrated 'The Tales of Beedle the Bard' is displayed at Sotheby's auction house on December 9, 2016 in London, England.Leon Neal/Getty Images  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Dec 14, 2016 7:15 PM UTC A handwritten copy of the [J.K. Rowling](http://time.com/4463272/jk-rowling-harry-potter-sketches/) story [_The Tales of Beedle the Bard_](http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1862746%5F1862765%5F1862768,00.html) sold for $470,000 at a Sotheby’s auction in London Tuesday. The bejeweled one-off edition — which belonged to original [_Harry Potter_](http://time.com/4595248/j-k-rowling-lin-manuel-miranda-harry-potter-twitter/)publisher Barry Cunningham — was one of six copies of the Potterverse spinoff the author penned and illustrated to thank those most responsible for the success of her debut series, according to the [BBC](http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-38307657). This particular copy includes a personal dedication from Rowling to Cunningham. “To Barry, the man who thought an overlong novel about a boy wizard in glasses might just sell… THANK YOU,” it reads. _The Tales of Beedle the Bard_ most notably played a role in the _Harry Potter_ universe in _The Deathly Hallows_, as one of its fairly tales — “The Tale of the Three Brothers” — revealed the existence of the Elder Wand, the Resurrection Stone and the Cloak of Invisibility to Harry, Ron and Hermione. Read more at [BBC.com](http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-38307657). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4602159/handwritten-harry-potter-story-auction/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4602159/handwritten-harry-potter-story-auction/"},"headline":"This Rare Harry Potter Book Went for $470,000 at Auction","datePublished":"2016-12-14T19:15:44.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:39:28.925Z","description":"It includes 6,000 handwritten words","url":"https://time.com/4602159/handwritten-harry-potter-story-auction/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Books","Harry Potter","J.K. 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