Rowling, J.K. (1997) ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’, true 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 – about 300 – went into public libraries [Errington 2017: p4]. This is one of the 200 NOT ex-library copies and bears no stamps anywhere inside the book. Also, no previous owners’ scribbles of any sorts. A beautiful copy which feels unread and most likely one of perphaps twenty or thirty copies in such beautiful condition. We also provide a first state dust jacket from a later printing which protects the boards, and a beautiful full red leather solander case which presents the book nicely on the shelf whilst also prevents any UV light or dust touching the book, thus preserving the book for generations to come. Condition: a near fine copy for the harshest of judges. No library or previous owners’ stamps anywhere inside the book. All pages are present. There are no scribbles inside, no drawings, no graffiti of any sorts. Internally sbsolutely clean. The boards are beautiful with only the lightest of shelf wears. The top and bottom spine tips have a light push. Otherwise as good as it gets. 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. No restorations and no retouching whatsoever. J.K. 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 this amazing condition. Commission sale and stored outside our premises.