A humble wooden chair sold at a NYC auction for $394,000 on Wednesday—all because it happens to be the seat that J.K. Rowling planted her buns on while writing the first two Harry Potter books.
The chair—made from oak in the 1930s—was one of four mismatched seats given to Rowling in 1995 for her Edinburgh apartment.
“This was the comfiest one, which is why it ended up stationed permanently in front of my typewriter, supporting me while I typed out Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.” Rowling writes in a letter of authenticity. “My nostalgic side is quite sad to see it go, but my back isn’t.”
This is the chair’s third time at auction. The first time, it was sold for $21,000 at a charity event. It was later resold to buyer Gerald Gray off of eBay for $29,000.
Gray, who sold the chair to an anonymous private collector through Heritage Auctions, says he will donate 10 percent of the $394,000 to Lumos, J.K. Rowling’s children’s charity.
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The chair itself has been hand-painted by Rowling. The inscriptions read, “ You may not/find me pretty/but don’t judge/on what you see,” “Gryffindor,” and the slightly on-the-nose “I wrote/Harry Potter/while sitting/on this chair.”
Heritage Auction’s James Gannon describes Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (a.k.a Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone) and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets as “two of the most important books of the modern era.” (And I agree.)
Congrats to the anonymous buyer whose Gringotts vault is $394,000 (or 81916 galleonsm, 14 sickles, and 6 knuts) lighter, but is increasingly rich in chair.
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Image via Getty.
