Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
First UK Edition, First Printing, Hardcover, Bloomsbury 2005, Bookplate Signed by J.K. Rowling
A rare and highly desirable signed first edition Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the sixth volume in J.K. Rowling’s landmark series.
A small-scale Harry Potter book signing at Edinburgh Castle took place at midnight on the publication date, 16 July 2005, and was the only scheduled signing event for this title. In place of widespread public signings, Bloomsbury issued official Half-Blood Prince promotional bookplates featuring the flame illustration from the dust jacket. Contemporary newspaper reports indicate these signed promotional bookplates were randomly distributed, making authentic examples increasingly scarce.
As a result, the majority of authentic signed copies from this release bear Rowling’s signature on these official bookplates. This example features a genuine J.K. Rowling signature in black ink on the official Half-Blood Prince bookplate, neatly affixed to the front free endpaper opposite the pastedown. Notably, this marked the first title-specific Harry Potter bookplate issued by Bloomsbury, as earlier signed copies typically used generic Bloomsbury bookplates.
The book itself has a slight lean but is bright, clean, and unread, with no internal markings, ownership inscriptions or dog-eared pages. The page edges show very little toning—a rare feature for this title—and there is no colour fading to either the book or the dust jacket. Overall condition is near fine, with only very minor bruising to the spine tip and slight creasing at the base of the spine. The dust jacket remains in fine condition protected in a removable archival Brodart cover.
This copy is fully authenticated by Adam Houston, The Harry Potter Specialist, widely regarded as the leading authority on authenticating J.K. Rowling signatures. It is accompanied by a letter of authenticity and collector card. The book comes in a black custom clamshell box with green inner trays and gold gilt lettering to the spine.
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by Leanne O'Leary
