# Is "The Tales of Beedle the Bard" by J.K. Rowling a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling (Children's High Level Group / Bloomsbury, 2008) is identified by: Standard trade edition, first printing, Bloomsbury in association with The Children's High Level Group, December 2008; copyright page dated 2008 with a full descending number line to 1. The seven 2007 handmade manuscript copies (the 'Moonstone' edition), one of which sold at Sotheby's in December 2007, are the true firsts.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Standard trade edition, first printing, Bloomsbury in association with The Children's High Level Group, December 2008; copyright page dated 2008 with a full descending number line to 1
- The Standard Edition is plain brown card-style boards
- The separate Amazon-exclusive Collector's Edition is the one with the metal skull, corner ornaments and clasp, replica gemstones, emerald ribbon and embroidered velvet bag, plus 10 additional illustrations and a reproduction of Rowling's handwritten introduction
- Publisher imprint reads Children's High Level Group / Bloomsbury
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | J.K. Rowling |
| Publisher | Children's High Level Group / Bloomsbury |
| Year | 2008 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Children's / illustrated |
| Key point | Standard trade edition, first printing, Bloomsbury in association with The Children's… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
Standard trade edition, first printing, Bloomsbury in association with The Children's High Level Group, December 2008; copyright page dated 2008 with a full descending number line to 1. The Standard Edition is plain brown card-style boards. The separate Amazon-exclusive Collector's Edition is the one with the metal skull, corner ornaments and clasp, replica gemstones, emerald ribbon and embroidered velvet bag, plus 10 additional illustrations and a reproduction of Rowling's handwritten introduction.

## Is this the true first?
The seven 2007 handmade manuscript copies (the 'Moonstone' edition), one of which sold at Sotheby's in December 2007, are the true firsts. For the trade book, the December 2008 Bloomsbury Standard Edition and the limited Amazon-exclusive Collector's Edition appeared essentially together.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
The 2017 illustrated edition by Chris Riddell is later and not the first. Do not conflate the plain Standard Edition with the ornamented Collector's Edition.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Tales of Beedle the Bard* by J.K. Rowling a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-tales-of-beedle-the-bard
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-03.