Rowling, J.K. (2007) ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’, UK signed first edition with letters

J.K. Rowling (2007) ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows‘, UK first edition, first printing, published by Bloomsbury. Signed and inscribed by Rowling on the title page: “to George with very best wishes [signature]”. The book was signed by Rowling to an Eton College student who happened to be the son of the publisher’s chief editor. As provenance we include the original letter of the previous owner, as well as a copy of the publisher’s contract with Emma Mathewson who edited the Potter books from volume 4 onwards. By the time of publication signed Harry Potter books have become so valuable that a plethora of forgeries have permeated the market. Aware of this problem, the publisher issued the hologram sticker authenticating Rowling’s signature. There was only one public signing event for this title in the UK: the midnight signing at the Natural History Museum in London on 20 July 2007, for which only 1,700 lucky ticket winners were admitted. Please note, that ‘signed’ copies not bearing the hologram sticker are to 99% forgeries and in any case worthless for collectors unless some substantial provenance can be presented. This copy is an exception as it is genuinely signed without the official hologram as only 20 students at Eton College could get their copies signed. The signature and handwriting match similar examples and the book will pass any authenticity test.

Condition: an unread copy which is near fine. Very slight edge wear to spine ends, otherwise fine.

The seventh and last volume in the seminal Harry Potter series which took the book world by storm igniting Potter-mania amongst kids (and  at that stage adults as well). The first print run for this book was a staggering 8 million copies. However, since effectively only about 1,700 copies were signed at the only official signing on 20 July 2007 ‘Deathly Hallows’ sells for a considerably higher price than many earlier volumes in the Potter series. Adapted as a two-part movie in 2010 and 2011.