Author J.K. Rowling's latest book, The Tales of Beedle the Bard, was sold for a record- breaking 1.95 million pounds (3.98 million dollars) at Sotheby's in London. The book of five fairytales, hand-written and decorated by Rowling, was bought by London fine art dealers Hazlitt, Gooden and Fox, acting on behalf of Amazon.

"I'm stunned and ecstatic. This will mean so much to children in desperate need of help. It means Christmas has come early for me," said Rowling after the sale. The book had been estimated to fetch between 30,000 and 50,000 pounds.

It will never be published commercially. Rowling has given six other copies to people closely associated with her Harry Potter series which ended with the publication of the seventh book this summer. However, the actual copy which was auctioned was specially crafted, bound in brown morocco leather and mounted with hand-chased silver ornaments and seven moonstones.

"This is one of the most exciting pieces of children's literature to have passed through Sotheby's. We have to reach back 80 years to find a comparison when we sold the manuscript of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland on behalf of the original Alice," Philip Errington of Sotheby's said.

Amazon has sold 12 million copies of Rowling's Harry Potter books worldwide so far. All proceeds from the record sale will go to Children's Voice, a charity co- founded by Rowling and Baroness Nicholson, a member of Britain's House of Lords, in 2005. It campaigns for children like Harry, who have been orphaned or abandoned, mostly in eastern Europe.

Amazon posted a message on its website, titled "Amazon.com to J.K. Rowling: Thank You." The posting also reveals some details about the first of the five tales, titled "The Wizard and the Hopping Pot."

Rowling alluded to The Tales Of Beedle The Bard in the last book of the wizard series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of the wizarding school Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, left his copy to Hermione Granger, stating that he hoped Hermione would find it "entertaining and instructive".

A dedication written in the front of the book sold Thursday says: "Six of these books have been given to those most closely connected to the Harry Potter books during the last 17 years."

"This seventh copy will be auctioned; the proceeds to help institutionalized children who are in desperate need of a voice. So to whoever now owns this book, thank you - and fair fortune be yours!"