Scholastic released J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in the United States.
The American edition appeared on 1 September 1998, more than a year after Bloomsbury published the book in Britain as Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Scholastic acquired the US publishing rights in a competitive auction and selected the American title because “sorcerer” was considered more immediately understandable to US readers than “philosopher.”
The change created one of the best-known differences between the British and American editions. The story, characters, and plot remain the same, although some wording was adjusted for American English. For example, “crisps” became “chips” and “jumper” became “sweater” in the US text.
Scholastic went on to publish the rest of the original seven-book Harry Potter series in the United States. The first American edition helped introduce Harry, Ron, and Hermione to a large US readership before the series became a global publishing phenomenon.