Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone Presentation Copy

The earliest known dated J.K. Rowling inscribed copies of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone are 11th June 1997, fifteen days before publication of the book, of which there are only two known copies. One copy was inscribed to her father and step mother which sold in December 2003 and this copy inscribed to her very good friends at the time Martin and Nicole.

This copy could very well be the first copy J.K. Rowling ever signed.

It is well known that the book was rejected by all the major publishers but interest was shown by Bloomsbury who made an offer to acquire the UK rights to the title for an advance of around £1500. There were 500 hardback copies and 5150 paperback copies printed simultaneously. Neither has bibliographic priority, however there is speculation that the paperback edition may have been produced first due to all of the presentation copies (copies inscribed by Jo privately in which she has hand written pre-publication dates) being paperback. A hardcover with a pre-publication inscription has never been seen and is thought to not exist.

The 1997 signature variation is by far the rarest of J.K. Rowling’s signatures. She had not started to do large scale signing events until the series had gained in popularity in early 1998. The book presented here is a first UK edition, first printing, presentation copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone inscribed 15 days prior to the publication day of the book. It is an incredibly rare book inscribed on the same day as the copy she presented to her father indicating this is the first time Jo inscribed books to friends and family members. Rowling was very good friends with Nicole from her time teaching in Portugal in the years prior to Harry Potter and stayed in touch even when Rowling moved to Edinburgh.

The book is in fine condition, a stunning copy without any colour fading. It is unread, the binding is extremely tight and square with very little shelf wear. There are two light creases to the rear wrapper in the bottom left corner. Internally there are no marks, stamps, dog eared pages or ownership inscriptions, just very minor toning to the page edges which is always the case with these early paperback books due to the cheap paper stock used when printing. Overall a first printing paperback in beautiful condition housed in a quarter leather clamshell box made by The Chelsea Bindery specifically for this book.

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 a letter of authenticity and collector card.