Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s / Sorcerer’s Stone

A Humanitarian Publishing Venture
The first Khmer translation of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, published in March 2005, came about from a unique humanitarian effort rather than a traditional commercial publishing deal. In mid-2004, American journalist Bernie Krisher—founder of The Cambodia Daily newspaper and the Non-Governmental Organisation’s (NGO) American Assistance for Cambodia/Japan Relief for Cambodia—reached out to J. K. Rowling’s representatives to obtain special permission to produce a Khmer edition. Rowling’s agents granted permission royalty-free for a non-profit Cambodian edition, an unusual arrangement that even saw the rights-holder listed as Krisher’s NGO on Rowling’s official publishers list in 2016 (the publishers list was obtained by Instagram user @foreverpotterish following a request to The Blair Partnership and published by Potterglot). The goal was to promote reading in Cambodia’s post-Khmer Rouge generation, giving local children access to the story in their native language. A Japanese philanthropist, Toshu Fukami, provided a grant of $15,000 to subsidise the project’s costs.

First Edition Publication and Details
With approval secured, the first Khmer translation of Philosopher’s Stone—titled ហេរី ផោតធ័រ និង សិលាទេព (transliteration: “heri phaotthr ning selatep”)—was published in March 2005. The publisher of record was Cambodia Daily Press, an imprint associated with Krisher’s newspaper. (Notably, some copies carry the imprint of University of Cambodia Press, a mystery that has puzzled collectors, though the Cambodia Daily Press version is more common. Both versions, photographed above, appear identical in content and were likely part of the same charitable print run.) The first print run was 10,000 copies, and no ISBN was assigned due to the non-commercial, charitable, approach to publication. Each book was a tall, slim paperback volume of 334 pages, printed by a local printer (Entry Meas Printing House) and featuring the Mary GrandPré cover artwork. There was a yellow belly band issued with some copies of the book but is rarely seen.

The Second (and Last) Khmer Harry Potter Book
In 2009, Krisher’s organisation obtained permission to translate Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. This second volume was translated by Un Tim as well and published by Cambodia Daily Press in a similarly formatted paperback edition. Interestingly, the cover art style changed—instead of reusing Mary GrandPré’s art, the Khmer Chamber of Secrets featured the original Bloomsbury U.K. cover illustration by Cliff Wright. Like the first book, it carried no ISBN and was sold at a low price to benefit young readers. The second book’s release made heri phaotthr ning bantob samngeat (ហេរី ផោតធ័រ និង បន្ទប់ សម្ងាត់ in Khmer) the final Harry Potter title officially published in Khmer. No further volumes were translated, likely due to the considerable expenses and logistical challenges involved in this charitable venture, combined with the relatively limited market of Khmer-language readers. As a result, the Khmer series stopped at two books, leaving Cambodian fans to seek out English editions or other sources for the later adventures of Harry Potter.

Credit: Adam Houston, The Harry Potter Specialist for his extensive work into the different first print Harry Potter translations.