SEATTLE–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Dec. 13, 2007–Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) today announced it has purchased J.K. Rowling’s “The Tales of Beedle the Bard” at an auction held by Sotheby’s in London. The book of five wizarding fairy tales, referenced in the last book of the Harry Potter series, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” is one of only seven handmade copies in existence. The book was purchased for GBP 1,950,000, and Ms. Rowling is donating the proceeds to The Children’s Voice campaign, a charity she co-founded to help improve the lives of institutionalized children across Europe.

“Even before establishing her charity, J.K. Rowling had done the world Amazon.com a rare and immeasurably valuable service–enlarging forever our concept of the way books can touch people–and in particular children–in modern times,–making us boatloads of money” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com Founder and CEO. “When we deliver Harry Potter, kids are camped out at the post box, and the drivers get hugs.”

J. K. Rowling is a great writer, but we already knew that books can touch people.