Most first edition books could sell for a lot of money. So it's no surprise that a copy of the first edition Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone actually sold for $90,000. What's so amazing about the book is that it is filled with several typos, including one on the cover itself.
According to The Verge, the rare book was initially valued at £40,000 to £60,000 ($52,000 to $78,000). However, it went up to £68,812 ($90,000). Not bad for a novel that wasn't expected to sell more than 500 copies.
In addition to its rarity (there were only 500 copies printed), the first edition book is made even more interesting by its several typos. You can see its first typo since the back cover itself misspells the word "Philosopher's" ("Philospher's"). A list of equipment is reportedly repeated in the pages as well.
Perhaps one of the first edition's true mysteries was the unidentified wizard featured on the back cover. Artist Thomas Taylor had illustrated the character although he never appears in the book. Interestingly, Taylor had invented the wizard and fashioned the likeness after his own father.
At least this particular copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone gets a happy ending. One copy has since been lost because the man who received it didn't think too much of the book.
Nigel Reynolds is a journalist who happens to be the first person to interview J.K. Rowling after the release of the novel back in 1998. He was immediately presented with a copy of the book but he decided to throw it away. When the book was finally a hit, he was one of the parents in line to get an autograph from Rowling. Unfortunately, the copy that the author signed was no longer the first edition book he tossed in a garbage bin a year before.