Rowling, J.K. (1997) ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’, UK hardback and true 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: presents in good to very good condition as our images showcase.  There is a library stamp on the copyright page as well as one on the front pastedown. The top page block also shows a faint library stamp as well as a red dot indicating that this book was at some point withdrawn from library service and has not been stolen. The library card at the front free endpaper has been removed. There are no previous owners’ writings nor bookplates inside the book. All pages are present and only the top corner of one page is torn not affecting any of the text as shown in our images. There are no scribbles inside, no drawings, no graffiti of any sorts. 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, and a few pages have developed yellow spots. This is due to the acidic paper content which bleaches the paper white upon publication but as time passes leads to increasing yellowing and in some cases non-uniform spots depending on how much exposure to air there was. A conservation expert has undertaken restoration to the spine and boards in order to present the book in its former glory. The buyer may rest assured that this has all been done by the leading UK expert in modern first edition restoration.

Although not the specimen in best condition as a former ex-libris book with its corresponding reading and handling history, the buyer may rest assured that the book is an authentic true hardback first edition of only 500 copies that were issued back in 1997.

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