What was the name of J.K. Rowling’s debut Harry Potter novel in the United States?

In the United States, J.K. Rowling’s debut Harry Potter novel was published as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. In Britain and several other markets, the same book was titled Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.

The title was changed for the American edition because the publisher believed “sorcerer” would be more immediately meaningful to US readers than “philosopher.” The plot and characters remained the same, so the two titles refer to one novel rather than separate books.

Bloomsbury published the British edition in 1997, while Scholastic released the American edition in 1998. The title difference is one of the best-known localization changes in the series.

Later Harry Potter books generally kept the same titles across Britain and the United States. Readers sometimes assume the first book has two different stories, but the distinction is only the title used by the market.