The mysterious bidder who forked out 1.95 million pounds for J. K. Rowlings hand-written book of childrens stories was actually online retailer Amazon, if reports are to be believed.
London, December 15 : The mysterious bidder who forked out 1.95 million pounds for J. K. Rowling's hand-written book of children's stories was actually online retailer Amazon, if reports are to be believed.
Fine art dealers Hazlitt, Gooden and Fox snapped up 'The Tales of Beedle the Bard' on behalf of an unnamed client at Sotheby's in London recently.
It has now turned out that the real purchaser of the book was Amazon.
The retailer, credited with selling over 12 million copies of Rowling's Harry Potter books worldwide, said that the money spent by it on the book would go to the writer's charity 'The Children's Voice'.
"Even before establishing her charity, JK Rowling had done the world a rare and immeasurably valuable service - enlarging forever our concept of the way books can touch people, and in particular children, in modern times," the Scotsman quoted Amazon's founder and chief executive, Jeff Bezos, as saying.
"When we deliver Harry Potter, kids are camped out at the post box, and the drivers get hugs," he added.
Amazon has plans to publish reviews of the book's content on its official website www.amazon.co.uk/beedlebard. The website will also facilitate an online discussion of Harry Potter fans.
The editors at the company are also planning to take questions about the tales on its discussion boards.
Only seven copies of the hand-written book exist. The book is bound in brown Morocco leather, and is mounted with hand-chased silver ornaments and seven moonstones.
It plays a key role in 'Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows', the seventh and final book about the schoolboy wizard.
A volume of the book containing five wizarding fairytales was left to Hermione Granger by Hogwarts headteacher Albus Dumbledore, and provided clues to help Harry and his friends defeat his nemesis, Lord Voldemort.
Rowling described 'The Tales Of Beedle The Bard' as "a wonderful way to say goodbye" to Harry Potter.
"I am stunned and ecstatic. This will mean so much to children in desperate need of help. It means Christmas has come early for me," she said of the book's sale.
Her charity works for the betterment institutionalised children across the world, particularly in Eastern Europe.
ANI