If you are a Harry Potter fan or love someone who is a fan, you should consider getting The Tales of Beedle the Bard for the holiday season.
A Mystery Buyer purchased the only handcrafted, publically-available copy of JK Rowling's latest Harry Potter book, Tales of Beedle the Bard
back in December 2007 for £1,950,000 (US$3.98 million).
The
leather-bound and hand-written book was sold so that the proceeds could benefit Rowling's new charity, The Children's Voice,
which works to protect the rights of mentally ill children and
teenagers across Europe, particularly in Eastern Europe. Later, it was revealed that the Mystery Buyer was the American bookseller, Amazon.com.
Now, two reproductions are being made available by Amazon.
The standard edition features all five fairy tales from the original The Tales of Beedle the Bard,
a new introduction by J.K. Rowling, illustrations reproduced from the
original handcrafted book.
A highlight for fans is a commentary on each tale by Professor Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, who brings his
unique wizard's-eye perspective to the collection.
Discovered "among the many papers which Dumbledore left in his will to the Hogwarts Archives," the venerable wizard's ruminations on the Tales allow today's readers to place them in the context of 16th century Muggle society, even allowing that "Beedle was somewhat out of step with his times in preaching a message of brotherly love for Muggles" during the era of witch hunts that would eventually drive the wizarding community into self-imposed exile. In fact, versions of the same stories told in wizarding households would shock many for their uncharitable treatment of their Muggle characters.
Professor Dumbledore also includes fascinating historical backstory, including tidbits such as the history and pursuit of magic wands, a brief comment on the Dark Arts and its practitioners, and the struggles with censorship that eventually led "a certain Beatrix Bloxam" to cleanse the Tales of "much of the darker themes that she found distasteful," forever altering the meaning of the stories for their Muggle audience. Dumbledore also allows us a glimpse of his personal relationship to the Tales, remarking that it was through "Babbity Rabbity and Her Cackling Stump" that "many of us [wizards] first discovered that magic could not bring back the dead."
But what is really nice is the luxuriously packaged Collector's Edition
(exclusively at Amazon) designed to look closer to the handcrafted original.
- It is housed in its own case (made to resemble a
wizarding textbook found in the Hogwarts library).
- includes a reproduction of J.K. Rowling's handwritten introduction
- 10 additional illustrations not found in the Standard Edition
- Opening the cover of the case reveals a velvet bag
embroidered with J.K. Rowling's signature, in which sits
- your copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard, complete with
- metal skull, corners, and clasp
- replica gemstones
- emerald ribbon
What is particularly nice about indulging in the Colector's edition is that the net proceeds from the Collector's Edition and the Standard Edition support the Children's High Level Group, a charity registered in England and Wales. This title will be released on December 4, 2008.
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