Rare Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone first (1st) edition, fourth (4th) printing complete with dust jacket and Mylar protective cover. Importantly, this is the actual Bloomsbury edition and not a book club edition.

**The book is in great shape (front and rear boards and excellent), but there is some wear to the front of the dust jacket (see close up photo), a small tear on the page opposite the printing info page, some staining visible to the page block, and page 48 is torn (see photos for all of these).**

The 4th printing was part of the first 2500 or so hardcover copies of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone ever printed. The first printing of Philosopher had a print run of only a max of 500 hardcover copies (some say it was only 300-350) and of that, 200 were sold and 300 went to libraries. It is believed that another 500 softcover copies were printed as part of the first issue and all sold to the public (but those that remain are usually in poor condition). The second printing followed quickly with a run of 1,000 hardcover copies, followed by the third, fourth and fifth print runs with 500 hardcover copies in each run.

As first printings and even second printings are priced beyond the reach of most people, 3rd and 4th prints are the way to go to have a rare copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone at a more affordable price!