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Thursday 1 November 2007
When it came to finding "thank you" presents for the people who have been most closely involved with Harry Potter over the years, nothing shop-bought seemed personal enough. I therefore decided to hand-write a limited number of copies of "The Tales of Beedle the Bard".
As this idea came to me only after I had finished writing "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows", I was left with the task of writing stories for the three titles Ron mentions in that book: "The Fountain of Fair Fortune", "The Wizard and the Hopping Pot," and "Babbitty Rabbitty and her Cackling Stump" (and if anyone thinks it was easy coming up with a tale called "Babbitty Rabbitty and her Cackling Stump," let me disabuse them here.) I've added a new story ("The Warlock’s Hairy Heart") and completed the collection with the only fable already told, "The Tale of the Three Brothers".
There were really six people I wanted to honour – the real insiders - but it had to be seven copies, not six. I have therefore decided to auction the seventh book for The Children’s Voice, a campaign run by the Children’s High Level Group, the charity I co-founded to campaign for the rights of institutionalised children.
Each of the seven copies of "The Tales of Beedle the Bard" has a different dedication; all are leather-bound and embellished with silver and different semi-precious stones. The seventh book (the Moonstone edition) will be auctioned at Sotheby's in London on December 13th 2007. The book will be on display to the public for a short period before the sale, and catalogues will be sold, all profits going to the Children's Voice.