An Italian bookseller has been convicted of stealing a first edition Harry Potter book, signed by J K Rowling, by switching it with a different novel in a shop in central London.

Rudolf Schönegger, 55, swapped a signed version of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire worth £1,675 with a copy of Late Call, by Angus Wilson, at Hatchards in Piccadilly on New Year’s Eve.

CCTV footage showed him browsing in the bookshop before removing the rare Harry Potter novel from its shelf behind the till while a staff member had her back turned, and replacing it with the Wilson book moments later. The novel had been on display with a sticker stating its value.

The collector and seller of rare books, who regularly visits shops in the area, had already been convicted of stealing a rare book from a pop-up store at Fortnum and Mason, just metres away, which occurred about three hours after the Harry Potter theft.



On Tuesday, he was also convicted of selling a stolen bound copy of The Old Man and the Sea, by Ernest Hemingway, worth £700, and a stolen first edition of Pincher Martin, by William Golding, worth £150. Both sales happened just before Christmas.



Helen Mills, the manager of secondhand books at Hatchards, told the court: “I went to the till on the ground floor and started serving customers. A colleague passed by in a quieter moment when the queue had gone down and said: ‘Oh, have you sold the Harry Potter?’ We had a first edition of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire on sale for £1,675, all the staff knew about it – it would have been a big thing for us to have sold it.



“It is rare for it to be signed by JK Rowling because she doesn’t sign too many. I turned around because we kept it behind the till and it wasn’t there – and where it had been was another book.”

Security staff were called and footage from the store showed the defendant inquiring about the book shortly after 2pm, and then showed him making the swap. The book has yet to be recovered.

Schönegger will be sentenced on 3 April at Westminster magistrates court.