The Tales of Beedle The Bard

The Harry Potter Prequel?

Not Another Harry Potter Book!

For the few of you out there not completely familiar with the Harry Potter Phenomena, this isn't actually a sequel or even prequel to the tales and adventures of Harry Potter and Hogwarts.
This book was mentioned in the final book of the Harry Potter series - The Deathly Hallows - as a collection of wizarding tales as common to wizarding families as the tales of the Brothers Grimm are to children in muggle families.

The Tales Of Beedle The Bard

The Most Expensive Modern Book Ever?

In December 2007, Southeby's, one of the UK's most prestigious auction houses, sold the only publicly available copies of The Tales Of Beedle The Bard for the incredible sum of £1.95million, thats about 4million dollars!
Only 7 copies of the ultimate in collectors editions were created. Handwritten and illustrated by J.K. Rowling 6 copies were given to personal friends, with the 7th being auctioned for charity.

Amazon Special Edition

Amazon paid just under £2million ($4million) for the book at auction. Sales from the limited edition collectors print run of 100,000 at £50 ($100)a copy, will bring a total of £5million ($10million). Not a bad investment!

What's so special?

The Collector's Edition is an exclusive reproduction of J.K. Rowling's handwritten introduction, as well as 10 additional illustrations not found in the Standard Edition or the original.
Presented in its own case disguised as a wizarding textbook as could be found in any magical library. Inside this nestles a velvet bag embroidered with the signature of J.K. Rowling, in which sits the crafted masterpeice with metal embossed skull, metal corner protectors, and clasp with imitation gems and a green ribbon placekeeper.
Now imagine the joy of any Harry Potter fan opening this up on christmas day!

UK Standard Edition

The Wizard and the Hopping Pot

A wonderful tale of a young wizard and a magical one footed pot.
The young wizard inherited the pot from his father and ... well I'm not going to spoil it, but the story is like a cross between an aesops fable and a discworld novel featuring The Luggage, with a healthy dose of Rowling magic.

The Fountain of Fair Fortune

A true fairy tale of a magical fountain in an enchanted and enclosed garden and that of the quest and friendship of 3 witches and a knight who wish to bathe in it's waters and gain the fair fortune legends tell of which bless those that bathe in its waters. Only one person may enter the garden and bathe in the fountain and this is a great tale of friendship.

The Warlock's Hairy Heart

This dark tale will chill you to the bone with a simple tale of a warlock using dark arts that becomes deluded by his solitude and the story becomes very strange and twisted when he decides to seek a wife.
This story shows JK Rowling at her darkest and would have the Brothers Grimm nodding in respect for such bone chilling storytelling.

Babbitty Rabbitty and her Cackling Stump

An old story of wicked kings and the persecution of magic in his land. A charlatan wizard seeks help from a local witch to impress the king with a display of magic. Wrongs are righted in true Rowling style with immense attention to detail and events.
Reminiscent of the Emperor Wears No Clothes, but with an amazing amount of depth for such a short tale.

The Tale of the Three Brothers

The Tale of the Three Brothers is the last in this book but by no means is it the least.
Harry Potter fans will be familiar with this story as the one in the Deathly Hallows, and tells the tale of the three brothers who cheat death.

Professor Dumbledore's Commentary

Professor Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore's notes presented in the standard edition were found "among the many papers which Dumbledore left in his will to the Hogwarts Archives".
The wizard's observations and notes illustrate the standard edition of The Tales of Beedle The Bard, allowing modern readers to put the tales in context with the 16th century society, where Beedle was preaching love and harmony with the muggles in the time of the witch-hunts and persecution that drove the wizarding community into hiding.

Children's High Level Group

Publisher of The Tales of Beedle The Bard

The book is being printed and distributed By Amazon, Bloomsbury (UK) and Scholastic (US), though the Publisher is actually the charity set up by J.K. Rowling and Baroness Emma Nicholson of Winterbourne MEP, The Children's High Level Group.
The aims of the charity are working together to ensure that UN minimum standards for the care of children are implemented across the world and to enable children in care across the world to enjoy a safe and happy future.
The countries that they currently work in are Romania, Moldova, Armenia and Georgia and the Czech Republic.
For more information about the work of The Children's High Level Group please visit their website - www.chlg.org

The Ballad of nearly headless Nick

One story that did not make it into these tales is the Ballad of Nearly-Headless Nick. This short tale, or ballad if you prefer, was penned by Rowling for inclusion in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, though it was edited out before publication. The original handwritten manuscript pages were donated in 2005 to the Scottish Language Dictionaries, to help fund a new dictionary of Scottish language.