Rowling books to help rugby club

Jack Henderson, three, with one of the signed Harry Potter books Enlarge Image

A rare set of Harry Potter books, being sold to help restore an Edinburgh rugby club destroyed by fire, have gone on display in Edinburgh.

The seven signed books have been personally donated by JK Rowling to raise funds for Portobello Rugby Club.

They went on display at Edinburgh auctioneers Lyon and Turnbull on Sunday.

The books are expected to sell for at least £3,000 when they go under the hammer next week.

The club was burned down by vandals in May 2007.

Funds from the auction will be put towards rebuilding the club, which lost precious archives in the fire.

Philip Gregory, of Lyon and Turnbull, said JK Rowling had donated the books after hearing about the fire through a friend who is a member of the rugby club committee.

Club president Iain Goodall said: "The club house has reopened but during the fire we lost everything including all our club archives.

"We are extremely grateful to JK Rowling for her extremely generous donation and will use the funds to replace the club's history."

The books will be auctioned at Lyon and Turnbull in Edinburgh on Wednesday morning.