The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling Available for Pre-Order

Fans of Harry Potter may be interested to hear that The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling is now available for pre-order from Amazon.

Rowling wrote this book of fairy tales to supplement the Harry Potter series and it was first mentioned in The Deathly Hallows.

Rowling made and illustrated seven copies of the book and it was thought it would never be published. Amazon bought one handwritten copy at auction for £1.95m last year and have now announced that they will release a maximum of 100,000 Collector’s Edition copies aimed at replicating the look and feel of the original tales – but for a much more affordable price tag!

The book will be published in two new editions on December 4, 2008.

The Standard Edition features all five fairy tales from the original The Tales of Beedle the Bard, a new introduction by J.K. Rowling, illustrations reproduced from the original handcrafted book, and a commentary on each of the tales by Professor Albus Dumbledore.

Amazon’s exclusive Collector’s Edition includes a reproduction of J.K. Rowling’s handwritten introduction, as well as 10 additional illustrations not found in the Standard Edition.

“There was understandable disappointment among Harry Potter fans when only one copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard was offered to the public last December,” said Rowling.

“I am therefore delighted to announce that, thanks to the generous support of Bloomsbury, Scholastic and Amazon – and with the blessing of the wonderful people who own the other six original books – The Tales of Beedle the Bard will now be widely available to all Harry Potter fans.”