In June 2000, writer JK Rowling gave a gift of inestimable value to his father. On the occasion of Father’s Day, she gave him a gift of one of the very first editions of his book Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
A special dedication for Father’s Day
On one of the pages of the book, one could read this dedication: “To Peter Rowling, in memory of Mr. Ridley and Susan Sladden, who helped bring Harry out of his closet.” It also read the following message:
Dear father, if I had called him Ronald (Wesley) Ridley, they would have found the poor guy eventually… but that’s why Ron is called Ron! Happy Father’s Day 2000 and lots of love from your eldest, JK Rowling.
If the copy you have of this book at home says the same thing, then you are the proud owner of an expensive treasure. Indeed, JK Rowling did an irreplaceable gift to his father, but this one finally preferred resell it.
JK Rowling betrayed by her own father
In 2003, Peter Rowling made the decision to auction this copy, along with six other books that his daughter had given him free of charge. Parentally or financially, this probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do.
Indeed, Peter Rowling will only succeed in reselling four of the seven books offered during the auction. Three books will therefore not be sold, because no one will want to meet the specified minimum purchase offer.
This sale will bring him a total of £50,000. (including £27,000 to be allocated to the fourth autographed volume of the saga). Waiting a few years, we’re pretty sure he could have sold the lot for a much more exorbitant price.
This event will be a hard blow for the writer, who will consider this act as “a total betrayal” from his father. On this subject, Peter Rowling himself recounted having acted in this way in order to pay his £100,000 debt (120,000 euros). The engineer had contracted this deficit following the bankruptcy of his company. It seems that his daughter did not want to help him pay at the time.
Peter Rowling blamed himself a lot for his act, although he continues to say that he couldn’t do otherwise. In this regard, he said:
It is a heartbreaking situation. I fear that I have lost my daughter. I can only hope that one day Joanne understands why I did this.
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