£27,500 for Potter first edition

JK Rowling inscribed this first edition of Goblet of Fire for her father

A signed first edition of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by JK Rowling has sold for £27,500 at auction.

The rare exhibit was one of seven first edition and presentation copies auctioned by the author's father Peter at Sotheby's in New York on Wednesday.

The Goblet of Fire first edition, given to Mr Rowling for Father's Day in 2002, was signed "lots of love from your first born".

It is not clear why he decided to sell the treasures.

First editions

Four of the exhibits were sold, all to anonymous bidders.

A first edition presentation copy of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, signed to Mr Rowling and the author's stepmother Jan, sold for £11,000 - well below the expected price tag.

And a first edition presentation copy of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets went for £6,200.

A signed first paperback edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone sold for £5,500.

But the remaining three exhibits - including a first American edition of The Sorcerer's Stone valued at £20,000 - failed to sell.

Mr Rowling had hoped to make as much as £120,000 from the sales but instead netted just over £50,000.

Last month, worldwide sales of the five Harry Potter books reached the 250 million mark.

The series has been sold in more than 200 countries and translated into 60 languages from Hindi to Ancient Greek.

The fifth book, The Order of the Phoenix, sold 1.78 million copies on its first day in the UK alone.