The Tales of Beedle the Bard

J.K. Rowling handwrote and illustrated seven original copies of "The Tales of Beedle the Bard." It is said that she wanted to give a special gift to the six people who were most involved with the Harry Potter series to thank them. Since she was making six, she decided to also make a seventh copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard, specifically for auction. The proceeds from the sale of that book would go towards The Children's Voice, a campaign of Children's High Level Group.

Each of the seven original editions of "Beedle the Bard" were handwritten and bound in a leather hardcover. Each book was also decorated with a different gemstone; the seventh book was decorated with moonstones. This "moonstone edition" was auctioned off at Sotheby's on December 13, 2007. It was purchased by Amazon for an unprecedented £1.95 million ($3.98 million), the most a children's book, or any "modern literary manuscript," has ever been sold up to that date and surpassing all initial estimates.

Rights to the stories of "Beedle the Bard" were not released so the book could not be widely reviewed after the sale. Amazon did hold a Beedle the Bard Ballad Writing Contest through which the winner, Rhiannon D. of Australia, gets to spend a weekend with the original edition.

Find Amazon's review of the book with details photos of the book here. Image from Wikipedia.