Bloomsbury first released J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in the United Kingdom.
The British publishing company issued the novel on 26 June 1997. It was Rowling’s debut novel and introduced Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, and the wizarding world of Hogwarts to readers. The book was initially published in the UK under the title Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.
Bloomsbury acquired the manuscript after Rowling’s agent submitted it to publishers. The company’s publication helped launch one of the most commercially successful children’s literature series ever written. In the United States, Scholastic published the book in 1998 under the different title Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.
That title change is a common source of confusion: Bloomsbury is associated with the original British edition, while Scholastic is associated with the American edition. The story and characters are essentially the same, but some wording was altered for the US market.