The first reviewers of JK Rowling’s first Harry Potter book compared the sorcerer’s apprentice to Charlie Bucket from “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”.
The connection was revealed when the only known surviving manuscript of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was auctioned for £37,000 after causing “quite a stir”.
The never-before-seen, uncorrected pages are a pre-proofread version of the popular children’s book that includes comments from the first reviewer in the series.
The 109-sheet text was sold for almost double its estimate of £20,000 after a private overseas collector won a fierce bidding war by telephone.
They are known in the industry as galley proofs and also include comments from children’s book critic Fiona Waters, who was sent the book by Bloomsbury publisher Rosamund Walker in 1997.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was published in 1997 and is the first of seven Harry Potter Books by author J.K. Rowling.
In a letter, Walker wrote: “Dear Fiona, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by Joanne Rowling.
“I have enclosed a manuscript as promised. I would greatly appreciate your comments on citations before publication.”
A month later, Waters responded: “I just loved that book. There’s something about Harry Potter that reminds me of Charlie Bucket in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.”
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Waters’ comments were used as a review on the back cover of the first printed edition of the book.
Clive Moss, head of Chiswick’s book, manuscript and paper auctions, said: “We are delighted with today’s result for the only known surviving set of galley proofs, which were on the market for the first time and caused quite a stir.”
He added: “We expected strong competition for them as they offered a unique insight into a work that was destined to become an iconic object in literary history.”
In Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, Harry is raised as an orphan by his aunt and uncle because his parents were killed when he was a baby.
Since he is not loved by either of them, he is invited to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
