Which publisher released the first Harry Potter novel in 1997?

Bloomsbury released the first Harry Potter novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, in the United Kingdom in 1997. The book was published on 26 June 1997.

Bloomsbury acquired the manuscript after publisher Barry Cunningham read it and supported publication. The first edition had a relatively modest print run compared with the extraordinary sales that followed, and illustrator Thomas Taylor created the original British cover.

In the United States, the novel was published by Scholastic in 1998 under the title Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. That title change is why readers sometimes name Scholastic when asked about the first publisher, but Bloomsbury was the original British publisher.