Emma KnightsHarry Potter fans will have the chance to bid for rare and special edition books about the boy wizard at an auction tomorrow.Ted Shelton, a former leader of Breckland Council, has been collecting the JK Rowling novels since 2000 but he has now decided to streamline his collection.Emma Knights

Harry Potter fans will have the chance to bid for rare and special edition books about the boy wizard at an auction tomorrow.

Ted Shelton, a former leader of Breckland Council, has been collecting the JK Rowling novels since 2000 but he has now decided to streamline his collection.

And among the group of books he has decided to put up for auction is a Ted Smart first edition of the first book in the series - Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

It would have cost just �10.99 to buy when the hardback book was published in 1998, but Diss auctioneers TW Gaze have set a guide price of between �150 and �250 for the book which goes under the hammer tomorrow.

Mr Shelton, 66 and who lives in Swanton Morley, said: 'JK Rowling is such a success because she is able to write really, really good books, real page-turners. I started collecting them after the first two books were written and I have decided the time is right to get rid of some of the books I have duplicates of.'

Other books in the auction include American hardback collector's editions of The Sorcerer's Stone (known as The Philosopher's Stone in the UK) and The Chamber of Secrets, both with tooled leather binding and gilt edges. There is also first American deluxe editions in slipcases of The Order of the Phoenix, The Half Blood Prince and The Deathly Hallows, a special edition trilogy of the first three books in paperback, and a number of large print first editions by Bloomsbury of the first five books.

Auction assistant Matt Keeling said: 'There are some nice editions here, some collector's editions and some from America which do not come up very often. The Philosopher's Stone published by Ted Smart is the most unusual.'

TW Gaze's Books with Antiques Auction is in Saleroom Two, Diss Auction Rooms, Roydon Road, Diss. It starts at 10am tomorrow. To view the catalogue go to www.twgaze.com