For the other titles, it is only the first hardback edition with the dust jacket that have collectable value. Though both the paperback and hardback first editions of the Philosopher’s Stone are of value, this is not the case with the other books in the series. To see the Harry Potter books we currently have for sale please click here. If you’re interested in selling it, or would like to have a custom protective box made to house it, then please contact us. If your book meets all these requirements then congratulations, you have a first edition! Depending on the binding and condition, it could be worth anywhere from many hundreds to tens of thousands of pounds. (For instance, if your copy has “20 19 18 17”, it’s a less valuable seventeenth printing.) The lowest figure in the print line indicates the printing. The print line on the copyright page must read “10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1”, ten down to one, exactly. The latest date listed in the copyright information must be 1997.ģ. The publisher must be listed as Bloomsbury at the bottom of the title page.

To be a first edition, in either hard or soft cover, there are four very important issue points, all of which your book must have:ġ. Next, how do you tell whether your copy, which may look very similar to the one pictured above, is really a valuable first edition?

The other binding was a regular paperback of which a few thousand copies were produced for sale. Because library books receive so much wear and tear we are left with only 200 copies in potentially fine collectable condition, and these rarely appear on the market. Only 500 copies were bound this way, and 300 of those were sent to libraries.

The rarest is the hardback issue, with a cover of laminated boards. Harry Potter first edition, softcover issueįirst, what do the books look like? The first printing was bound in two different ways.

Harry potter the philosopher's stone