How To Tell If You Have A Harry Potter First Edition Book Or Set

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Are you wondering whether you have a first edition Harry Potter book?

Or even a first-edition Harry Potter Set?

This post looks at everything you need to know when determining whether or not your Harry Potter book could be a rare first-edition copy.

For any longtime readers of my blog, you’ll be aware that I am a massive Harry Potter fan.

I’ve read the books and seen the films innumerable times.

I’ve been to the Wizarding World Of Harry Potter at Universal Studios.

I’ve done the Warner Brothers Studio Tour Twice.

I even had a Harry Potter Sweet table at my wedding (if this is something you’d like to attempt for yourself you can read my full post on it here!)

Just today I had to stop myself from buying my baby daughter the adorable Harry Potter school uniform outfit, pictured below (two things stopped me – the fact neither myself nor her Dad are in Gryffindor which the colours used to represent – we’re Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw receptively – and the fact I’ve already ordered her Halloween costume – she’s going as Toby from the film Labyrinth)

Anyway, this post is all about how to tell if you have a Harry Potter First Edition set of books.

Find our which Harry Potter house you belong in by doing the sorting hat quiz at Pottermore.

If you’re anything like me, or you’re around my age you will have likely read the Harry Potter books growing up.

I was 10 when the first book was released in 1997 and although I didn’t read it that year by the time The Order of the Phoenix was released in 2003 I was queuing up outside WHSmith at Midnight dressed in my robes to be one of the first to get my hands on the latest adventures of Harry and the gang.

How To Tell If You Have A Harry Potter First Edition Set

As an avid reader and one that particularly likes fantasy books at that, I still have all my original Harry Potter Books. Unfortunately for me, none of them are worth anything (I’ve checked!).

However, if you still have your copies on a bookshelf somewhere gathering dust there is a possibility one or two of them might be worth something.

You might enjoy: Touring The Magical World of Harry Potter

You may even have a Harry Potter first edition set. Once you know what to look out for it’s worth keeping an eye out in charity shops and at car boot sales in case you come across a Harry Potter Book or even a Harry Potter first edition set that’s worth quite a bit of money.

How Can You Tell If A Harry Potter Book Is A First Edition?

In the post, I am going to cover all the things that will help you figure out whether you’re Harry Potter book is a first edition as well as other signs your book could be worth more than you might think.

These include:

•  Additional text and misprints to look out for
• Rare cover illustrations
• Cover quotes
• Signed copies
• Why there are so many first editions of later books

How To Tell If You Have A Harry Potter First Edition

Firstly it’s important to establish what constitutes a Harry Potter first edition. As the book series grew in popularity the later books were printed by the millions even on the first print run, so for the final books in the series first editions are not remotely rare.

I have first editions of both Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, but sadly they’re not worth anything.

In this post, I’m going to focus on how to tell if you have a first edition of Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone as that’s the one that’s most likely to be worth some money.

If you’re looking for a copy because you’re a collector then it’s worth being aware of the fact there are lots of copies being sold on eBay that aren’t proper first editions – they are first editions of later print runs such as the Tedsmart copies and the celebration copies.

These aren’t worth much as they are not a ‘real’ first edition but often eBay sellers either don’t know the difference or don’t care and are attempting to dupe people.

Be careful to make sure copies are by the first publisher.

For all of the Harry Potter books, the first publisher is Bloomsbury.

The first three Harry Potter first edition, first print books can be worth thousands of pounds.

The value then decreases incrementally with the second, third and fourth prints, and so on.

Any first editions of collectors editions can be worth a fair amount of money too.

It’s also worth noting that any copies signed by J.K Rowling are worth more and can sell for as much as £3000.

How To Tell If You Have A Harry Potter First Edition – Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone

As Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone is the first in series, first editions of this are worth the most so this is what we’ll look at first.

The most important thing to look at when trying to ascertain whether or not you have a Harry Potter First Edition is what Print Run it is.

As a first edition, it should count down 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1.

The earlier the print run, the more it’s worth.

The very early first editions are all hardback editions designed for libraries and initially, there were just 500 released and therefore these can be worth a heck of a lot of money.

There are not many of these editions left making them extremely rare, however, even second and third editions of these copies are worth a fair bit of money.

There are three other things to look for when trying to determine if you have a Harry Potter First Edition (Philosopher’s Stone)

• Is there an old or young wizard pictured on the spine or the back of the book? The young Wizard is much rarer and therefore worth more money.

• On the title page of the book does it say Joanne Rowling instead of J.K Rowling? This was changed in later editions as it was felt the series would be great for encouraging boys to read but they might not want to read it if they thought it was written by a woman.

• Harry’s equipment list for Hogwarts on page 53 – there is a typo in very early editions the word ‘wand’ is listed twice, once at the top and once at the bottom – again this was changed in later editions once the error had been spotted.

Also, take a good look at the tagline on the front cover of the book.

The earliest editions have a quote from Wendy Coolidge which reads

“A terrific read and stunning first novel.”

Then, later ones have a quote from the Telegraph. Later one again has a Smarties book prize quote.

What To Do If You Have A Harry Potter First Edition Set

If all the above applies and you do have a Harry Potter First edition book (or more than one making them a set!) there are a few things you might want to consider.

If you’re no longer a Harry Potter fan and want to sell your copy there are several routes you could take depending on the edition and what it might be worth.

For a first-edition Harry Potter Book with a later print run that may be worth a few hundred pounds eBay may be the easiest and most convenient way to sell.

If you think your copy may be worth thousands an independent valuation followed by an auction may be the best way of ensuring you get the full value for your Harry Potter First edition.

Alternatively, you may want to keep your Harry Potter first edition either for sentimental reasons or because a few years down the line as copies become rarer it could be worth substantially more money than it is at the moment.

How Much Could Your Harry Potter First Edition Be Worth?

Even the tattiest and most well-read standard Harry Potter first editions could sell for £20 at the minimum (perfect if you find a copy for 99p in a charity shop) and this includes both The Philosopher’s Stone and The Chamber of Secrets.

Books in better to near perfect condition could sell for as much as £4000 and anything signed or inscribed by J.K herself will be worth considerably more.

The print run can also affect the price the books will sell for.

Very early U.S and Australian copies of ‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone’ including the deluxe edition can be expected to make around £1800.

These were printed in 1998 and 1999 and you may get more if you have a set of these first editions together – I think you’d have to be extremely lucky to do so though!

The Best of The Rest First Edition Harry Potter Books

A hardcover first edition of ‘Harry Potter and The Chamber Secrets’ will often sell for thousands of pounds.

Copies of ‘The Prisoner of Azkaban’ with Joanne on the copyright page instead of J.K can be worth up to £1000. A well-looked-after first-edition copy of this book can usually be worth a few hundred pounds.

Any book signed by J.K Rowing will have a much higher value even if it isn’t an early edition or part of Harry Potter First edition set.

By the time the fourth book in the series was released Harry Potter mania had well and truly taken hold and copies were printed by the millions.

There are a few copies with a slightly different cover that can be worth up to £100 but generally speaking, after this point most of the books are worth very little.

Be aware of eBayers and charity shops claiming these books are worth more than they are.