Rowling, J.K. (1999) ‘Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban’, UK uncorrected proof

Joanne (Kathleen) Rowling (1999) ‘Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban‘, UK uncorrected proof, second state in green wraps, published by Bloomsbury.

Condition: good. This proof copy has been restored with minor sections to the flaps filled in. Creases to front and rear wrap as shown. Spine slightly bowed. Minor soiling to page block edges. There is a small stamp of an owl (Hedwig?) on the reverse of the front panel with the number ‘8’ written over it in biro. This may have been done by the publisher. No other inscription, nor previous owners’ marks. The Copyright page credits ‘Joanne Rowling’ as the author, a mistake which has been carried over to the first state of the hardback first edition, and then corrected midaway through the printing process. Later corrected to J.K. Rowling.

The proof for ‘Azkaban’ came in two states: a first state in purple wraps which had an assumed print run of 50 copies, and this second state in green wraps with a presumed print run of 150, figures provided by the publisher [Errington 2017: 652-655].

This was the final time an uncorrected proof was produced as from ‘Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire’ onwards the content of the series was meant to be kept secret until the official publication day.