Philosopher's Stone (as it was titled in the UK) was published by Bloomsbury with a tiny print run. While the numbers have sometimes been debated, the general consensus these days is that 500 copies were printed of the hardback first edition, 300 went to libraries, the remaining 200 to bookstores. I have not seen any good numbers on the first edition paperback print-run...but last I saw it was thought to be around 5000 copies. By comparison, Scholastic printed 30,000 copies of the US first edition in October of 1998 (still a small number given the millions of copies that have sold since).
But...the very first Harry Potter book ever printed was a rather humble looking affair with a yellow and white paper cover. It has no illustration on it, or inside it, and only has the title on the front cover in simple black letters. The inside title page even lists the author as "J.A. Rowling"! This is the Uncorrected Proof copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Only 200 were printed and given out to book reviewers and buyers. It's not clear how many of these still exist. Some of the people who were sent these books have said they threw them out after reading them...or they just gave them away or lost them. The book carries a reasonably hefty price tag at auction...about as much as the paperback first edition of the book (but still lower than the hardback first which goes anywhere from $10K to $20K.)
I have dabbled in this hobby a little bit...but not too deeply. As you can see...the water gets a little deep! That said...I still think these books are a great investment. All those young kids are going to grow up someday, and a few of them will want to have these books and they will have the resources to buy them.
Until next time....
Todd,
ReplyDeleteIs this your book? Where on earth did you find it?
Have you ever been to Lytton Springs near Healdsburg? It's official name is the Adult Rehab Center, run by the Salvation Army. They have five stores that they run. Like all thrift stores, it's really hit and miss. We were there yesterday and I found three boxes (about 8x10x12 ea) of Lincoln Logs, Tinker Toys and wooden blocks. I paid pennies for them.
Mel...I am still figuring out how to use my own blog!! See the reply in the next comment. Bottom line...yes, the book is mine. See you later...thanks for looking at my blog!
DeleteMel...Yes it is. I sort of lucked into it in a way. I still had to pay a fair bit, but got what i think was a pretty good deal. I got it at an auction in England...totally low-balled the bid and ended up winning.
ReplyDelete