Which Harry Potter novel was the first to be published under the name J.K. Rowling?

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was the first Harry Potter novel published under the name J.K. Rowling.

Bloomsbury released the book in the United Kingdom on 26 June 1997. It introduced Harry Potter as an orphan who discovers that he is a wizard and is invited to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The novel establishes the characters, institutions, and central conflict that drive the rest of the series.

The author’s name on the book was a publishing choice. Rowling was born Joanne Rowling and had no middle name, but her publisher requested two initials. She selected “K” in honor of her grandmother Kathleen.

In the United States, the same book was published as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. That title difference can make readers think the American edition was a different first novel, but it is the same story.