Harry Potter fans in B.C. can now dive further into the wizarding world and out of the muggle one through a recent purchase by the University of British Columbia (UBC).
Recently, the UBC’s library in Vancouver acquired a rare U.K. first-edition copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, the first book in the series, for the equivalent of about $47,000 CAD—an incredible price, considering some rare books can go for over $100,000 CAD.
The library started collecting the U.K., United States, and Canadian complete sets of the Harry Potter series in first editions back in 2015, according to Katherine Kalsbeek, head of rare books and special collections at the library, and Chelsea Shriver, rare books and special collections librarian.
Shriver said that they’ve been trying for years at auctions to procure the book, but have always been outbid. She added that the UBC library has many connections with book dealers in Canada, the U.S., and the U.K., and they made their intentions known to them.
Luckily, one of their dealers in New York found a copy for them and they acquired the book late last fall. The announcement was not made until recently though, as the book needed to be catalogued and taken care of before it could go on display for the public.
As of this week, people are free to come request the book during the library’s hours. They have to fill out a registration form and the book cannot leave the library, but for those few hours, they can remain fully immersed in the wizarding world.
Kalsbeek and Shriver explained they started collecting the series because UBC has a strong historical children’s literature collection, which includes children’s books from before 1939, such as Alice in Wonderland.
“Harry Potter, even though it was published in 1997, has a big influence on children’s literature, so it made sense from a collector’s point of view,” Kalsbeek said. “It’s important that students in the MACL [Master of Arts in Children’s Literature] program have access to primary sources, too.”
And the response from the students has been overwhelming already, Shriver and Kalsbeek said, as they’re excited to see what the library is going to do with the book.
“There was a perception when we first announced it that tuition money went towards the purchase,” Kalsbeek said. “But that’s definitely not the case. We have an acquisition budget, along with donor funds, which allowed us to acquire it.”
Along with the complete sets of the U.K., U.S., and Canadian first editions, Kalsbeek and Shriver said the library has additional special copies of Harry Potter, such as an uncorrected proof of a U.K. edition—where the author is written as “J.A. Rowling”—and one of the books owned by Emma Watson’s body double in the films, with the inside cover signed by several cast members.
The UBC Quidditch team was also very excited, Kalsbeek said. In the past, they’ve loaned out library materials for displays when they had events for the other books, and the library gave several of the team members tickets to go see the Goblet of Fire film, with music live by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra as thanks.
The book is now on display at the UBC library at the Vancouver campus, and Shriver and Kalsbeek want people to know they’re more than happy to share the collection.
They explained that they hope it inspires people to read more Harry Potter, and to explore its importance and influence in children and their literature.
“We hope students across Canada can come to see and appreciate it,” Shriver said.
Photo provided
