Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone

There are several variations of J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone" (published by Scholastic, October 1998 ISBN: 0-590-35340-3), but the one of most value and importance to collectors is the first edition/first printing/first state version. That will be the focus of this guide.

First, a word about first editions. Technically, all Harry Potter books are considered first editions. There are no second edition Harry Potter books. Therefore, the print run is considered more important to determining the rarity of a book than the term "first edition". The print run is determined by a line of numbers (usually consecutive and descending) on the copyright page. The lowest number in this line will determine what print run the book is. Also changes to things such as the dust jacket can bring another term called "state" into play, which is why you sometimes hear about a first state dust jacket or second state cover.

To determine if you have a true first edition/first printing/ first state copy of "Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone", begin by looking at the book itself. The book should have a red quartercloth with purple boards that have an embossed diamond pattern on them. Book Club Editions (BCE) lack the diamond pattern and usually have different colored boards. At the top of the spine, the authors full name "J K Rowling" should appear in gold lettering. Later editions simply list "Rowling". There should not be a "Year 1" badge present on the spine of the book. Now turn to the copyright page. In order for the book to be a true first printing, the copyright page must have the full number line (1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 8 9/9 0/0 01 02), and state "First American Edition, October 1998." It should also state "Printed in the USA 23". The order of the numberline is important, because the Book Club Editions have a numberline that reads 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1. Now, on to the dust jacket.

There have been a few variations of the dust jacket for the Sorcerer's Stone. The rarest, and most valuable to collectors is the first state dust jacket. The key to determining which state dust jacket you have is by looking at the quote on the back of it. A true first state jacket has a quote form The Guardian in London that states "Harry Potter could assume the near-legendary status as Roald Dahl's Charlie, of chocolate factory fame." This was actually a mis-quote from The Guardian, and it's estimated that any where from 250 to 5000 of these dust jackets were printed before the mistake was caught. Second state dust jackets bear a quote from Publishers Weekly that says "A delightful award-winning debut from an author who dances in the footsteps of P.L. Travers and Roald Dahl." A few other important points about the dust jacket. The words "Harry Potter" should appear in raised gold print on the cover. The spine should bear "J K Rowling" and there should not be a "Year 1" badge present. The inside dust flap should have a price of $16.95 present, and the barcode on the back should have the numbers 51695 present.

If you have a book that meets all of these qualifications, congratulations. You own a truly rare, valuable and sought after book. Even if you have a first printing, but it has the second state dust jacket, you still have something rare. Hang on to these as the value will only go up as the years go by.

Harry Potter True First Editions (And How To Spot Them)

This blog will be covering how to correctly identify true first edition Harry Potter books out of the many variations that exist. This can be especially difficult with some of the earlier books due the multiple printings and different variations of dust jackets.