BETTER than a bond, more interesting than an Isa and more satisfying than shares — antiquarian books and modern first editions have been attracting attention from investment-minded collectors.

“We have seen more private buyers in the past year, including people looking at books as investments,” says Rupert Powell, managing director of Bloomsbury Book Auctions in London. “Equally, there have been sellers looking to realise cash from books, rather than in the stock market.”

Driving the interest in books is demand from both UK and overseas buyers, including dealers and private collectors. “We have had our best six months ever,” Mr Powell adds.

One name that has put book prices in the headlines is Harry Potter. On top of all the fuss about the latest volume, a spate of records have been set and broken in recent years for first editions of the earlier Harry Potter books. Recent examples include a first edition of the first book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, which sold for nearly £20,000 at Bloomsbury Book Auctions last month.

In January, Lyon and Turnbull, the Edinburgh auctioneers, sold a copy of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets for £4,000 and this week had 13 first edition Potters in its book and manuscripts sale. The top price went to an uncorrected proof copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, which sold for £3,055.

The first books in the series are the most sought-after because they were printed in relatively small quantities. John Sibbald, books specialist at Lyon and Turnbull, says that the high prices paid for copies in mint condition is indicative of a new phenomenon in the book market. “There is a different type of buyer coming in who is new to the book market,” he says.

With the print run for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the latest volume, running into millions, rarity of first editions is out of the question. But Mr Sibbald says that collectors will be looking for oddities such as copies with pages missing or parts printed upside down.

But can the appeal of Harry Potter last? Will investment-minded buyers see a return on their money in a few years’ time, when a new popular hero may be holding sway? Mr Sibbald believes that demand for rare copies of the books will be sustained and values will not fall overnight.

Others in the market point to the easing in prices for books by J.R.R. Tolkien, the other big name among modern first editions. A first edition of The Lord of the Rings achieved a hammer price of £6,500 at Bloomsbury Book Auctions last month. But this is less than it might have fetched at the height of the interest in Tolkien.

Among notable prices for first editions of The Lord of the Rings, £32,450 was paid at Sotheby’s in December 2001 for a specially-bound set that was signed by the author.

Although the media attention on Hobbits and Harry Potter may have drawn in new buyers, the book market is not entirely driven by media hype or speculators. For many collectors, the idea of buying primarily for profit would be an unpardonable suggestion.

Specialist interest among dealers and collectors still dominates many areas of the market. For example, a collection of books on food and drink owned by the late John Lyle, a noted dealer in this field, was sold at Bloomsbury Book Auctions last month, with many lots exceeding estimates several times over.

A 16th-century Italian treatise on the art of carving meats, cooking and wine, fetched £3,290 against a top estimate of £1,200, while a 16th-century French account of gardening and viniculture doubled its estimate at £1,763.