Harry Potter First Edition sells for $41,000

A copy of the first Harry Potter novel sold at auction this week for nearly $41,000. The copy of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone," published in 1997 and signed "Joanne Rowling" was sold to an anonymous private bidder for $40,326 at Christie's.

The book was published by Bloomsbury with an initial print run of about 500 copies. It was published in the U.S. in 1998 as "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone."