Keen reader Emily Saiban, 11, made a rare discovery when she spotted a valuable first edition copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone on the shelves at Wimbledon Library. Potter fan Emily, a Gryffindor, learnt how to identify a Rowling first edition by watching a video on YouTube, and was astonished when the library book she borrowed met all the criteria. The 22-year-old copy is in surprisingly good condition for a library book. It has been put safe while the council decides what to do with it. Cllr Caroline Cooper-Marbiah, Merton’s Cabinet Member for Culture, said: “I was spellbound when I first heard of this truly amazing find.”

The tell tale signs that you could have a valuable first edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone are:

• The publisher is listed as Bloomsbury
• The copyright is to ‘Joanne Rowling’ rather than ‘JK Rowling’, and is dated 1997
• The print line on the copyright page is ’10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1’
• On page 53, in a list of school supplies that Harry receives from Hogwarts, ‘1 wand’ is accidentally printed twice
• A younger Dumbledore appears on the back cover.