What was the name of J.K. Rowling’s first Harry Potter manuscript?

J.K. Rowling’s first Harry Potter manuscript became Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.

The novel developed from an idea Rowling had during a train journey from Manchester to London in 1990. She spent years planning the story and writing the manuscript before it was accepted for publication by Bloomsbury. The finished book introduced the characters and fictional institutions that would define the series, including Harry, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, and Hogwarts.

The wording “first manuscript” can cause confusion because Rowling wrote drafts and planning materials before the published version. The title refers to the first completed novel in the series, not to a separate unpublished book. In the United States, the same work was retitled Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, so both names identify the debut Harry Potter novel.