Display copy of Beedle the Bard in US

Auction house Sotheby's put the copy of "The Tales of Beedle the Bard" out on display today for the press. The book will then go on display to the public here in the US at Sotheby's in New York City starting Monday, November 26 at 10am (ET) then again on Tuesday, November 27 and Wednesday November 28. Bloomberg.com reports that keen interest in obtaining this unique handwritten book by author J.K. Rowling will result in a "record 50,000 pounds ($103,000) at a Dec. 13 London charity auction J.K. Rowling's commercial success adds value to the manuscript,'' Sotheby's book specialist Philip Errington said in an interview. ''It makes it more desirable.''

The website noted how rare it is for unpublished manuscripts by living authors to go up for auction, and it is hard to value what these pieces will sell for. They cite previous auctions of works by J.K. Rowling, including one that we at TLC were involved in for our first Get a Clue charity drive, the handwritten note card with words from "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" which sold for "28,680 pounds in 2002." The article continues to state that the "other six copies of the fairy tale may come onto the market ''at some point, but this is the first,'' Errington said." JKR created seven copies of "Beedle the Bard" in all, giving these other copies to friends as a thank you gift for all the years of support during her writing of the Harry Potter series.Proceeds from this auction will benefit The Children's Voice Charity.

You can see some photos of the book from today, here courtesy of Reuters, as well as early photos here in our galleries, with more on the auction, here.