Bloomsbury released J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in the United Kingdom in 1997. The publication date was 26 June, and the book became one of the company’s defining successes.
The manuscript had been rejected by several publishers before Bloomsbury acquired it. Barry Cunningham, then an editorial director at Bloomsbury, worked on the project and helped bring the novel to market. The first edition was aimed at children, but its readership quickly expanded across age groups.
Bloomsbury remains the principal British publisher associated with the Harry Potter books. Scholastic published the American editions, where the first title was renamed Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. This publisher-and-title distinction is a common source of confusion: Bloomsbury is tied to the original UK release, while Scholastic is tied to the US edition.