A 1997 first edition of "Harry Potter & The Philosopher's Stone" annotated by J.K. Rowling sold for £150,000 ($227,000, 176,000 euros) at a London auction Tuesday, a new record for a printed book by the writer. Two bidders battled it out for the work before the hammer finally came down, triggering a round of applause at the Sotheby's auction house. The book contains commentary and 22 of Rowling's own original illustrations.

A 1997 first edition of "Harry Potter & The Philosopher's Stone" annotated by J.K. Rowling sold for £150,000 ($227,000, 176,000 euros) at a London auction Tuesday, a new record for a printed book by the writer. Two bidders battled it out for the work before the hammer finally came down, triggering a round of applause at the Sotheby's auction house. The book contains commentary and 22 of Rowling's own original illustrations.

A 1997 first edition of "Harry Potter & The Philosopher's Stone" annotated by J.K. Rowling sold for £150,000 ($227,000, 176,000 euros) at a London auction Tuesday, a new record for a printed book by the writer. Two bidders battled it out for the work before the hammer finally came down, triggering a round of applause at the Sotheby's auction house. The book contains commentary and 22 of Rowling's own original illustrations. The lot formed part of a sale of books annotated by 50 British and Commonwealth contemporary writers, raising a combined total of £439,200.

State-rescued Royal Bank of Scotland axed 1,400 more positions on Thursday, taking the total number of job losses close to 40,000 since its vast state bailout at the height of the global financial crisis. "RBS has announced plans to restructure its retail head office functions in the UK. The changes will result in 1,400 job losses over the next two years," said in a statement. A company spokesman told AFP that the latest round of losses took the total job cuts to 38,900 over the past five years, as the bank has sought to transform its fortunes.