Up For Auction: The Tales Of Beedle The Bard

Harry Potter fans can celebrate another book from J.K. Rowling, although it’s likely only the rich ones are going to have a shot at it. Rowling has hand-written the children’s storybook that appears within the last novel, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The sole copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard is currently on display at Sotheby’s Auction House, where it will remain until it goes up for auction on December 13th.

The storybook is bound in leather, decorated with a silver skull and moonstones, and includes five short stories, handwritten by Rowling. “The Tale of the Three Brothers” was summarized by Hermione within Deathly Hallows, leaving four other completely original tales to be seen by the lucky bidder who wins the copy.

The one of a kind book is expected to sell for upwards of $100,000 according to The Hollywood Reporter. The money from the sale will go to Rowling’s children’s charity. And that will be it for The Tales of Beedle the Bard. The winner will not be given copyright or permission to reproduce the volume, so other fans won’t be privy to the tales anytime soon.

I can’t help but wonder if Rowling could have made more by releasing the volume to the public, making a chapbook of the tales instead of a single, hand-written volume. At the same time, it’s kind of cool to think that there’s a one-of-a-kind “holy grail” collector’s item out there for Harry Potter fandom.