Bloomsbury was the publishing company that first accepted Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. The London-based independent publisher acquired the British rights to J.K. Rowling’s first Harry Potter novel and published it in 1997.
The manuscript had been rejected by several publishers before Bloomsbury editor Barry Cunningham decided to publish it. The company initially marketed the book partly toward children, and Rowling used the initials J.K. rather than her full name because the publisher feared that some boys might avoid a book written by a woman.
Scholastic later acquired the American rights and published the novel in the United States under the title Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. This difference in title can cause confusion about the original publisher. Bloomsbury remained the British publisher of the Harry Potter series, helping transform a relatively modest first edition into one of the most successful publishing phenomena in modern history.