--- title: Harry Potter: Philosopher's Stone Typo Worth Thousands description: First editions of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone may be worth thousands thanks to a typo in 500 hardback copies of the novel. canonical: https://time.com/4450975/harry-potter-and-the-philosophers-stone-typo/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-08-12T21:40:51.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:35:28.276Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: A Typo in Your Harry Potter Book Could Make You Thousands og:description: Does your copy contain the error? og:url: https://time.com/4450975/harry-potter-and-the-philosophers-stone-typo/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: A Typo in Your Harry Potter Book Could Make You Thousands twitter:description: Does your copy contain the error? twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # How a Typo in Your _Harry Potter_ Book Might Be Worth Thousands of Dollars  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Aug 12, 2016 9:40 PM UTC  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Aug 12, 2016 9:40 PM UTC First editions of [_Harry Potter_](http://time.com/4445149/harry-potter-cursed-child-jk-rowling/) _and the Philosopher’s Stone_ may be worth thousands of dollars thanks to a typo that exists in 500 hardback copies of the first novel in [J.K. Rowling’s](http://time.com/4432264/jk-rowling-harry-potter-end-series/) wizarding world series. As reported by [the Independent](http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/these-editions-of-harry-potter-and-the-philosophers-stone-are-fetching-thousands-because-of-a-typo-a7185241.html), the error lies within a passage on page 53 in which “1 wand” is repeated twice in a list of supplies first-year wizards are expected to bring with them to [Hogwarts](http://time.com/4385294/jk-rowling-ilvermorny-harry-potter/). One book that includes the misprint is even expected to bring in more than $33,000 when it is sold at London’s Bonhams Fine Books and Manuscripts in November. > [](https://twitter.com/danasclly/status/506488549576019969) “As the first book in the series, _Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone_ has a special place in the affections of the millions of readers across the world and the proof reading error about the wand in the first edition has, of course, become a treasured piece of Harry Potter arcana,” Matthew Haley, the Head of Books and Manuscripts at Bonhams, told the Independent. \[[TheIndependent](http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/these-editions-of-harry-potter-and-the-philosophers-stone-are-fetching-thousands-because-of-a-typo-a7185241.html)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4450975/harry-potter-and-the-philosophers-stone-typo/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4450975/harry-potter-and-the-philosophers-stone-typo/"},"headline":"How a Typo in Your Harry Potter Book Might Be Worth Thousands of Dollars","datePublished":"2016-08-12T21:40:51.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:35:28.276Z","description":"Does your copy contain the rare error?","url":"https://time.com/4450975/harry-potter-and-the-philosophers-stone-typo/","keywords":["Books","Newsfeed","Harry Potter"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/books/","name":"Books"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4450975/harry-potter-and-the-philosophers-stone-typo/","name":"How a Typo in Your Harry Potter Book Might Be Worth Thousands of Dollars"}}]}] ```