Tales of Beadle The Bard
Now here’s a Christmas present any Harry Potter fan would love to receive:
We’re incredibly excited to announce that Amazon has purchased J.K. Rowling’s The Tales of Beedle the Bard at an auction held by Sotheby’s in London. The book of five wizarding fairy tales, referenced in the last book of the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, is one of only seven handmade copies in existence. The purchase price was £1,950,000, and Ms. Rowling is donating the proceeds to The Children’s Voice campaign, a charity she co-founded to help improve the lives of institutionalized children across Europe.The Tales of Beedle the Bard is extensively illustrated and handwritten by the bard herself–all 157 pages of it. It’s bound in brown Moroccan leather and embellished with five hand-chased hallmarked sterling silver ornaments and mounted moonstones.
Enjoy these first images of the book. We’ll be adding reviews of each of the fairy tales and more photos of this beautiful object as we can get them up in the coming hours (if you want to be sure of a link that will permanently work, use www.amazon.com/beedlebard). For the curious of mind, Amazon editors are now taking questions about the tales from all comers on our discussion boards (located further down this page).
So, when do the facsimile editions go on sale?
December 14th, 2007 at 9:30 pm
The Christianists have already showed up on the comment thread. What a bunch of classless creeps.
December 14th, 2007 at 10:46 pm
I saw that. They’re just jealous that more people like Harry than their moldy old Jesus.
December 19th, 2007 at 1:17 pm
Keith, you got yourself one weird-ass troll there.
December 19th, 2007 at 8:14 pm
JD was off his meds, so I had to box him. problem is, while there’s only one model, there are many copies; dude’s got more finger puppet email addresses than I can keep track of. One day, I’ll get them all.
January 4th, 2008 at 1:53 am
Hmm… I don’t think Christians should complain about Harry Potter; but I don’t want to hear other people say anything bad about Christianity and Jesus. Just because some people complain about Harry, doesn’t mean they have to insult someone (Jesus) that hasn’t said anything.
January 18th, 2008 at 9:41 pm
i agree with Allison i don’t think they should complain if they don’t like it don’t read it but i don’t think jesus should be talked bad about in any way he hasn’t done anything
February 3rd, 2008 at 12:45 pm
Some Christians actually read Harry Potter. And enjoy it. I am one of them and so far have not been struck dead for my temerity(!). I’m sure Jesus finds JKR’s books creative at at least as well. After all, He created creativity and gave us our imaginations; it would be a shame to not use His gifts.
February 5th, 2008 at 5:30 pm
God (supposedly) created creativity, not Jesus. The Harry Potter series is an amazing litterary masterpiece. People need to open their mind and read as much as possible, otherwise the world will never progress. I believe in God, but until someone can prove that events in the Bible actually occurred, the stories within are just as fictional as the works of J.K. Rowling and many others. Fanatical Christians need to relax and broaden their horizons a bit.
February 9th, 2008 at 6:21 am
would be nice if ye put it on the web
March 31st, 2008 at 8:15 pm
To kab:
what louise says about Jesus creating creativity and our imaginations is not necessarily wrong. Let me explain this way.
Genesis 1 records the decision to create humanity, “Let US make people in OUR image . . . ” This is a likely reference to the Trinity - the idea that God exists eternally as three persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The New Testament says explicitly “Christ is the one through whom God created everything in heaven and earth” (Colossians 1:16).
Therefore, louise is not saying that God didn’t create things, but Jesus did too, for he is God made man, the Lamb of God.
As to what you said, don’t think that all Christians are against Harry Potter. I LOVE the series and can even find references to Christianity within the books. For instance, in Godric’s Hollow, there are two messages on graves from the Bible. 1. The last enemy that shall be defeated is death, and 2. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
More apparent is Harry’s walk down to the Forbidden Forest, where he hands his life over to Voldemort. (If it were Jesus, his walk was similar and he shed his blood for sinners) Also, Harry/Jesus rose from the dead and thereby protected all their loved ones from lasting harm from Voldemort/Satan.
Another reference is obviously Lily’s sacrifice to keep Harry alive. In HP OOTP, Dumbledore says “He shed her blood, but it lives on in you and her sister. Her blood became your refuge.”
Another thing is that no one will ever be able to prove that the books of the Bible are true. That is why it is called faith. “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe”.
SO, maybe YOU need to broaden your horizons and stop immediately condeming those you term “fanatical Christians”. Learn something about that religion before you begin abusing it and stereotyping people.
April 1st, 2008 at 4:08 pm
Alright, I honestly cannot see what the problem is here. I am a strong Christian and follow my faith with absolute sincerity, though I love reading the Harry Potter series. These books are fictional stories, (though they are exceptionally good ones), and I see no reason to stereotype anyone due to this issue. Let’s not use phrases that might cause one to feel bad about their religious donominatoin, shall we? I believe we all share a common interest - Harry Potter. So let’s just discuss that from now on - their is no need for hateful thoughts or words.
Now… I really hope that JKR will release “Tales of the Bettle and the Bard” publicly in mass amounts - so as we can all enjoy the stories within the book. If she does, which I’m quite sure she will, then I estimate the books will be made and sold within the next two years or so.