J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter debut was published in the United Kingdom in 1997.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone appeared through Bloomsbury on 26 June 1997. The first edition had a relatively small initial print run compared with the enormous sales that followed. Word of mouth, strong reviews, and children’s book awards helped the novel reach a much wider audience.
The book was Rowling’s first published novel. Before publication, the manuscript had been rejected by several publishers, but Bloomsbury editor Barry Cunningham acquired it after reading the opening chapters. The success of the first book quickly turned the series into a major publishing event.
The United States edition arrived in 1998 under a different title: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. This difference can cause confusion when people compare publication dates, but 1997 is the correct year for the original British edition and the beginning of the main series.