Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone – UNKNOWN 6th Softcover Printing

Without a doubt, this is the RAREST original UK Bloomsbury paperback edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in existence. It is much scarcer than even the first five printings, which had very limited print runs.

This sixth printing of the UK Bloomsbury paperback is so extraordinarily rare that many experts and collectors believe that this print run (similar to the hardback) may have been skipped by the publisher.

Note: This is NOT the common Canadian sixth edition paperback, but an UNKNOWN genuine 1997 Bloomsbury edition printed by Clays in England, which appeared only a few months after the book's original release.

This well-loved copy shows typical signs of wear: The film layer of the original wrapper is missing, with some creases on the front cover and wear to the lower spine. The spine also shows some fading. There is a closed tear on the half-title page, along with some foxing on the book edges and title pages. The margins of the pages are browned, as is typical with age. No names, marks, stamps, or other inscriptions. Like the first five editions, the copyright page text is printed on the top half of the page. In later editions, it was moved to the lower half.

The reason why this sixth UK Bloomsbury print run barely made it to the market remains a mystery. It may be related to changes in the cover design: after the fifth printing, the Wendy Cooling quote at the bottom was replaced with one from the Sunday Telegraph. Most striking, however, is the use of PINK for the background of the lettering on the spine, especially noticeable at the bottom. It is possible that this design change was rejected by the publisher, and this print run was subsequently withdrawn from sale.

A truly unique Harry Potter book.