auction details of Tales of Beedle the Bard.

Bloomberg lets us know that Sotheby's is hoping to auction J.K. Rowling's spin-off Harry Potter book, The Tales of Beetle the Bard, which we told you about a few days ago, for a sum of 50,000 pounds ($104,000) when it goes on sale on December 13th. This copy of the book is one of seven and is the only one that will be available to the public. The other six were given by JKR as gifts to those who have been the "real insiders" with the Harry Potter books. All money made on the auction of The Tales of Beetle the Bard will benefit The Children's Voice charity.

Sotheby's aims to set a record of 50,000 pounds ($104,000) for author J.K. Rowling when it sells a hand-written fairy tale for a children's charity on Dec. 13.

``The Tales of Beedle the Bard,'' containing five stories with themes from the Harry Potter books, is one of only seven copies handwritten and illustrated by bestselling author Rowling, Sotheby's said in a statement today. The London sale will benefit the Children's Voice, a charity co-founded by Rowling.

Billionaire Rowling, 42, has said she'll produce no more Potter books. Writing the fairy tale was a ``way to say goodbye to a world I have loved and lived for 17 years,'' Rowling said in the Sotheby's release.

The auction record for a book by Rowling was set last month when a first edition of ``Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'' sold for 19,700 pounds at a Christie's International London auction.

Sotheby's sold a postcard with a plot summary in Rowling's hand of ``Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix'' for 28,680 pounds in 2002.