Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
First UK Edition, Hardcover 5th Printing, Signed & Inscribed by J.K. Rowling, Bloomsbury 1998, First State Dust Jacket
The copy presented here is a first UK edition, 5th printing copy of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. The signature is from autumn 1998 when Jo Rowling developed a more fluid and connected signature as she embarking on her first American tour. The inscription is for one Anstice Garfitt, who received the book for Christmas 1998 from close family friends who knew Jo Rowling from the church they attended in Edinburgh. The book remained in her possession until November 2023.
It is extremely rare to find such a detailed inscription as this one ‘To Anstice, what an excellent name for a Harry Potter character, might steal it.’ The book and dust jacket are in very good condition, it appears unread with no colour fading at all. The page edges are slightly toned and there is some clear foxing to the top edge. The fore-edge and bottom edge are much brighter with only very minimal foxing. There is a slight spine lean and some minor spotting to the preliminary pages, some bumping to the spine tip and base but overall this is a lovely copy with no tears, pen marks, dog eared pages or ownership inscriptions of any kind. The dust jacket has some slight colour fading to the spine and has some light shelf wear to the top and bottom edge. It is the correct first state jacket with a capital A for Age 10 on the inside front flap. The first state jacket is often swapped out for the second state jacket without the capital A, found on later printings.
The signature and inscription come fully authenticated by Adam Houston ‘theharrypotterspecialist’ the world’s leading expert in authenticating Jo’s signature. It comes with a full authentication package including letter of authenticity and collector card.
