Harry Potter Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) Set

An Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) is an uncorrected proof of a book about to be published. They are usually sent to book sellers, editors and reviewers prior to public release. Many of these books were read and often thrown away or damaged due to Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling being fairly unknown at that time, particularly before the release of the first book. There is an estimated 3000 of each of the US ARC books printed.

The Sorcerer’s Stone ARC that you see here is the first ever printed copy of the Sorcerer’s Stone. On the rear of the book it shows the publishing information that 30,000 first printing copies are due to be printed for the Sorcerer’s Stone making the ARC 10x rarer than the first printing  trade edition. There is some suggestion that the number may have changed to 50,000 after the ARC had already been printed and sent out. This book is in overall fine condition, it is unread with clean bright white pages with no creases, marks or writing of any kind. The binding is tight and square with no creases to the spine, the is some very minor shelf wear to the bottom edge and to the base of the spine.

The Chamber of Secrets ARC shows on the rear cover printing information that tells us 250,000 first printing copies are due to be printed for the Chamber of Secrets, meaning that this ARC is almost 100x rarer than the first printing trade edition. Of all the three ARCs you see here, this copy is in the best condition, a near pristine copy, that shows no fading at all to the spine. It is extremely rare to find this book with a full colour spine as the red is often found severely faded. Again it is unread, with no marks, inscriptions or writing internally of any kind.

The Prisoner of Azkaban ARC, you may notice that it doesn’t not bear the usual cover art and instead has a purple and black diamond pattern. This is because Mary GranPre the illustrator os the US books had not finished the cover art by the time this ARC was published, because Scholastic changed the publishing date to earlier than expected. The publishing information on the rear cover shows us that there were 500,000 first printing copies to be printed. By this time, Harry Potter was getting more and more popular and therefore more printings of the book were needed to supply the growing demand. This book here again is overall in fine condition, with full colours to the spine and covers. Again it is unread with a square and tight binding, no crease to the spine and again white, fresh clean pages throughout. There is the slightest bit of shelf wear to the base of the spine.

There are only three US Advanced Reader Copies. This is a complete set, extremely rare to find together in this condition.