Who says nobody reads books anymore? Certainly not the National Magazine Company, which has voted Harry Potter author JK Rowling 'the most influential woman in the UK.'
Rowling can now add being more influential than Queen Elizabeth II to her substantial list of achievements (as can Victoria Beckham, who came in at #2).
Her Majesty is in third place in the list of 100 important females, which was voted for by leading magazine editors in the UK to mark the centenary of the National Magazine Company publishing house.
Yet the news will come of no surprise to collectors of rare books and autographs, for whom rare Rowling First Editions offer the best returns...
 Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, autographed |
In February 2010, for instance, a signed first edition Harry Potter book sold for £15,500 ($23,900) against an estimate of £9,700 ($15,000).
What's more, according to our market analysis, a Rowling first edition purchased today could net returns akin to first editions by the likes of Austen, Shelley and Bronte in future decades.
To date, the Harry Potter novels have sold more than 400 million copies worldwide, and Rowling's fortune was estimated at around £560m ($798m) in the 2008 Sunday Times rich list.
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