Rowling, J.K. (1997) ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’, UK hardback first edition published by Bloomsbury

Joanne (Kathleen) Rowling (1997) ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone‘, UK first edition, first printing, published by Bloomsbury. The true hardback first edition with all first issue points present: the Wendy Cooling blurb on the front panel; the rear panel bears the typo with an ‘o’ missing in “Philosopher’s” and “Hogwarts School of Wizardy and Witchcraft” instead of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy. Page 53 lists ‘wand’ twice as called for. No dust jacket as issued. One of only 500 copies printed of which the majority (300) went into public libraries. This is an ex-library copy and has been professionaly restored.

Condition: present in very good to near fine condition as our images showcase.  No library or previous owners’ stamps anywhere inside the book although the half-title shows evidence of library label removal. All pages are present. There are no scribbles inside, no drawings, no graffiti of any sorts. Prelims show light stains. Occasional staining inside but nothing major. This edition has been printed on cheap paper stock and therefore the paper is prone to natural ageing of which this copy is no exception. The page block edges are yellowed/ darkened commensurate with age. A conservation expert has undertaken restoration to the boards in order to restore rubbing to the spine tips, corners of the boards and spine joints. The buyer may rest assured that this has all been done by the leading UK expert in modern first edition restoration.

Rowling and Harry Potter need no further introduction. The most popular children fantasy series of the last decades which sold hundreds of million copies world wide in its over 60 languages to date. Perhaps Rowling’s most important credit is that with the captivating story of a young wizard boy named Harry Potter she made reading ‘cool’ again for an entire generation of kids which grew up on electronic media entertainment. A highly coveted book and we are proud to be able to offer a copy in very good condition.

Stored in a safety deposit box outside our premises