Bloomsbury released J.K. Rowling’s first Harry Potter novel in the United Kingdom on 26 June 1997.
The book was titled Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in the UK and most other countries. Its American edition, published by Scholastic in 1998, used the title Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. The title change is a frequent source of confusion when readers compare editions.
Bloomsbury was a British independent publisher founded in 1986. The Harry Potter manuscript became one of its most commercially important acquisitions, although the first print run was modest compared with the enormous sales that followed. The novel introduced Harry, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, and the wizarding school Hogwarts.
The book’s UK publication date is distinct from the date of the first American edition and from the later film release. The first film, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, reached cinemas in 2001, four years after the novel appeared.