Beedle the Bard; Lexicon

[Annemehr]

--- In the_old_crowd at yahoogroups.com, "davewitley" <dfrankiswork at ...> 
wrote:
>
> No doubt people who can face the Leaky Cauldron's diabolical 
interface 
> already know all this, but see 
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7072086.stm
> 
> You've got to hand it to JKR:  "Here's the book and, no, you aren't 
> going to be able to read it."  Unless she also gives the copyright to 
> her charity, too.

Anne:
Fat chance of that.  The value of the auctioned copy is going to be 
tied to its exclusivity.  The people receiving the gift copies are no 
doubt sworn to secrecy.  It could be decades before a copy is leaked.

I do wonder why she chose to go about fundraising by auction, again, 
especially with something like this, which I'm sure would raise at 
least as much money if published as a cheap little paperback, even if 
the publishers and printers were paid this time.  The handwritten 
copies would still make nice gift for her friends.


Dave:
 
> Meanwhile, Lexicon WTF?  How did it get this far?
> 

Anne:
Well, apparently the publisher has ignored numerous cease and desist 
orders.  I'd be more interested in how it got started in the first 
place, but that'd be for Steve to say.

But I wonder if JKR *really* thinks a printed Lexicon would compete 
with her promised-some-day encyclopedia.  I mean, she *was* planning on 
publishing never-before-revealed details, wasn't she?  I can respect 
her objection to the sale of such material by others for "their own 
personal gain," however. (Quote taken from JKR's news item on her site.)

Anne

P.S.
I've just been at JKR's site to doublecheck the news item re the 
encyclopedia, and there's a newer item (behind the dark mark) about the 
Tales of Beedle the Bard and how the auctioned one came to be.  It says 
that one will be on public display for a time beforehand -- does that 
mean people WILL get to see inside?  I can't imagine the public will be 
allowed to handle it, though, so maybe it'll be just the cover, or open 
to one page, and behind glass.

Time will tell.