Bloomsbury first published J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.
The British publishing house released the novel in the United Kingdom on 26 June 1997. Barry Cunningham, then an editor at Bloomsbury, acquired the manuscript after Rowling submitted it through literary agent Christopher Little.
The book was Rowling’s debut novel and introduced Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, and the wizarding world. Bloomsbury retained the British title, while the American edition used the title Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and was published by Scholastic in 1998.
This title difference is a frequent source of confusion. “Philosopher’s Stone” is the original British title and the title used in most countries, whereas “Sorcerer’s Stone” appears in the United States and in some related American editions.