01 February,2009 06:15 PM IST | | Alpana Lath Sawai
Then, about two years ago, J K Rowling said she would write one more Potter book. Sort of. Titled The Tales of Beedle the Bard, it would be a spin-off from the series. I almost started believing in magic.
Like most fans, however, I felt upset that she was handwriting six copies of the new book only for the few people closest to her who'd contributed to her success. Then came news that there would be a seventh copy which would be auctioned and the proceeds would go to the highest bidder.
That turned out to be an online book vendor who, in turn, said they would make a limited one lakh copies for hardcore fans that would be similar to the original book.
These copies would leave just one degree of separation between me and Rowling. So for the princely sum of $100, I booked a copy. The website carried photos of the book. It was leather-bound and had a magical-looking clasp. There were shiny stones studded on to a death-skull.
Meanwhile, regular editions of the book reached stores. One came to us for review. It was nice a light blue cover with faux-vintage sketches on top. It was the size of a small notebook. Each page of the five tales was framed with delicate vines and there were other drawings illustrating the stories. Each tale ended unexpectedly. There was a moral that would be explained in the following note by the Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore. I enjoyed the book as I'd got it free. But what I was waiting for was the special collector's edition that would reach me on December 4, 2008 the day the book went on sale.
Of course the book was late. It came in a large package that was almost the size of a tabloid newspaper. I opened the box and found a big leather-bound book with the gold-tipped pages. it was not very heavy I was delighted, and imagined that the book would have faux manuscript paper. J K Rowling's handwriting would be scrawled across the pages. I turned the cover to open the book in my excitement I had not realised it was not a book. Only a box made to look like one. The actual book was inside. It was much smaller. In fact, it was the size of the regular mass-produced book.
Inside the left cover was a pocket with an envelope of drawings rendered by Rowling and reprinted and available only to those who'd bought this limited edition. On the right, where the first page should have been, was a black velvet-ish well that held a bag. This pouch was maroon velvet with 'J K Rowling' embroidered in gold. A gold tassle held together its mouth.
The book was small and perhaps it was Moroccan leather-bound I wouldn't know and some blue stones were studded onto a metal skull and a clasp on the cover.
The introduction was handwritten in blue ink "her" handwriting no doubt. and the rest was typeset in a font that was difficult to read.
I quietly kept everything back in its place. I felt cheated.
Online, on the bookselling website's blog, there were other fans who were irate. There were more feelings of betrayal when I read that the website had apparently printed extra reserve copies which they were going to sell once the one lakh copies were sold out. Some even said that a hundred copies from these later prints were to have Rowling's autograph. So I, and 99,999 other fans, paid a heavy price for being the first to book her book.
Some of these collector's editions are already back up on sale at the book vendor's site. Mine's stacked on a shelf with other mistakes I spent money on.
