J.K. Rowling, Hilary Mantel, and other British authors auction off annotated first editions
J.K. Rowling, Hilary Mantel, Ian McEwan, Philip Pullman, and other British authors will auction off first-edition copies of their books with annotations, illustrations, or commentaries about their stories to benefit the British writers鈥� organization English PEN.
The auction will take place May 21, with 50 British writers contributing first-edition copies of their works with some sort of additions. Pullman鈥檚 novel 鈥淣orthern Lights,鈥� known as 鈥�The Golden Compass鈥� in America, will be sold as well as Helen Fielding鈥檚 novel 鈥�Bridget Jones鈥檚 Diary," Roald Dahl鈥檚 children鈥檚 book 鈥淢atilda,鈥� and Mantel's "Wolf Hall."
Rowling is contributing the first book in the Harry Potter series, 鈥淗arry Potter and the Philosopher鈥檚 Stone,鈥� known as 鈥淗arry Potter and the Sorcerer鈥檚 Stone鈥� in the US. As noted by , the book is the hardest to find of the "Harry Potter" series because it had the fewest copies released during its first printing.
Authors Margaret Atwood, Julian Barnes, Nadine Gordimer, and Tom Stoppard are also participating, among others.
Some of the annotations for the books are also available for viewing online through the website for the British newspaper the .
English PEN 鈥渄efend[s] writers and readers in the UK and around the world whose human right to freedom of expression is at risk,鈥� explains the group's .
The auction will be taking place at Sotheby鈥檚 and is arranged around a theme of 鈥淔irst Editions, Second Thoughts,鈥� according to the English PEN website.
鈥淚n 40 years in the rare book trade I have never seen a collection of books to compare with those in this sale,鈥� curator of the sale Rick Gekoski said in a statement on the site. Gekoski is also an English PEN trustee and works as a rare book dealer. 鈥淚n many cases, the commentaries will affect how the book is to be read and understood in the future.鈥�
鈥檚 copy of 鈥溾�淗arry Potter and the Philosopher鈥檚 Stone鈥� includes some hand-drawn illustrations accompanying the story as well as her written thoughts and a 43-page piece on the theme of 鈥渟econd thoughts鈥� about the book.
One of the author鈥檚 annotations reveals that she originally chose a bear to represent Hufflepuff House, one of Hogwart鈥檚 four houses, before settling on a badger.
鈥淧erhaps Hufflepuff house would have the respect it deserves from the fans if I'd stayed with my original idea of a bear to represent it?鈥� she wrote.
Meanwhile, wrote in the margins of 鈥淏ridget Jones鈥檚 Diary," 鈥淭he BBC鈥檚 Pride and Prejudice was airing when I wrote. In love with Mr. Darcy like the rest of the female population.鈥�
