# Is "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" by J.K. Rowling a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling (Bloomsbury, 1998) is identified by: UK Bloomsbury, 1998 (published 2 July 1998). UK Bloomsbury 1998 is the true first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- UK Bloomsbury, 1998 (published 2 July 1998)
- First-printing points on the copyright page: 'First published in Great Britain in 1998'; the full number line '10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1'; printer 'Clays Ltd, St Ives plc'; and — importantly — NO line reading 'This edition produced for The Book People Ltd' (that line marks the Ted Smart / Book People reprint, not the trade first)
- The earliest hardback also lacks the small Bloomsbury/Hogwarts device later added to the copyright page
- Dust jacket: first-issue priced jacket (price present at the flap), with review quotes from The Sunday Times and The Independent on Saturday on the rear panel; boards illustrated to match the jacket
- Per Bloomsbury (recorded by Errington), only 706 hardback copies were printed on 2 July 1998 — the widely repeated '10,150' figure is not supported by the bibliography
- The p.245 'ancestor'/'descendant' slip about Salazar Slytherin appears in ALL early printings and is NOT a first-edition point
- Publisher imprint reads Bloomsbury

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | J.K. Rowling |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury |
| Year | 1998 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | UK Bloomsbury, 1998 (published 2 July 1998) |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
UK Bloomsbury, 1998 (published 2 July 1998). First-printing points on the copyright page: 'First published in Great Britain in 1998'; the full number line '10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1'; printer 'Clays Ltd, St Ives plc'; and — importantly — NO line reading 'This edition produced for The Book People Ltd' (that line marks the Ted Smart / Book People reprint, not the trade first). The earliest hardback also lacks the small Bloomsbury/Hogwarts device later added to the copyright page. Dust jacket: first-issue priced jacket (price present at the flap), with review quotes from The Sunday Times and The Independent on Saturday on the rear panel; boards illustrated to match the jacket. Per Bloomsbury (recorded by Errington), only 706 hardback copies were printed on 2 July 1998 — the widely repeated '10,150' figure is not supported by the bibliography. The p.245 'ancestor'/'descendant' slip about Salazar Slytherin appears in ALL early printings and is NOT a first-edition point. The copyright is in the name 'Joanne Rowling', but for this title that credit is not a state point (it is on every early impression) and must not be used to identify a first.

## Is this the true first?
UK Bloomsbury 1998 is the true first. The first US edition is Scholastic / Arthur A. Levine, New York, 1999 — a separate, later edition. Signed and deluxe states exist, but the trade first is identified by the copyright-page points above, not by any 'quill', 'dropped-7', or author-credit 'error'.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
The Ted Smart / Book People printing carries the line 'This edition produced for The Book People Ltd' on the copyright page and is not the trade first. Later Bloomsbury printings show a number line no longer running 10-to-1 and add the Bloomsbury/Hogwarts device. Book-club and gift copies are not firsts regardless of the '1998' date.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets* by J.K. Rowling a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/harry-potter-and-the-chamber-of-secrets
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.