The first Harry Potter book was published in 1997 with a hardback print run of just 500, each of which is now worth £40-50,000. Since then the seven Harry Potter books have sold nearly 500 million copies and the eight films based on these books have grossed £6.5 billion, making J K Rowling the world’s richest author with a fortune of around £600 million.

Born in 1778 in Zakynthos (Zante in Venetian), a Greek island that was then a Venetian possession, Ugo Foscolo was the son of an Italian father and a Greek mother. Following his father’s death, the family moved to Venice, where he learned Italian and completed his studies at the University of Padua. He joined intellectual circles and admired Napoleon, even siding with his army.