This is a third printing UK copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. It is a highly sought after copy as it is the first copy to be released with a dust jacket. With the first and second printings often out of reach for the average collector, this more affordable third printing is a great addition to anyones collection. The dust jacket for the third printing is unique in that it is slightly more purple in colour than the blue of the rear board of the book. Subsequent dust jackets on later printings are more of a blue colour matching the blue on the book. Often third printing books are sold with later printing dust jackets as the slight difference in colour is the only thing that can tell them apart. This is a true third printing dust jacket. The book itself is in fine condition, a near perfect copy without any colour fading. It is unread, the binding is tight, the boards are square with sharp corners and the pages are a bright white, clean and free from any toning, creases, ownership inscriptions or dog eared pages. There is just a very minor bump to the bottom corner at the spine base. There is no colour fading at all to the dust jacket which is unclipped and in pristine condition. The book comes housed in a custom made red quarter leather clamshell box with bespoke gold lettering to the spine.
A very scarce original third impression of the true first edition with number-string sequence 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 at the bottom of the printer's page. Obviously no other titles listed as 'also available'. As is well known now, the first impression print run was only 500 copies of which 300-350 went straight to libraries. As a result first impression copies in fine condition without library stamps fetch high five-figure sums now. According to Philip Errington's "J.K. Rowling: A Bibliogarphy", the second impression followed quickly with a run of 1,000 copies, followed by this third impression which was of 500 copies only. The third impression was also significant as it was the first printing to include a dustwrapper. ***Importantly, this copy is in near fine condition in pictorial colour illustrated boards and feels unread. The boards are unblemished - clean and unmarked. No bumps or creasing. Corners sharp. No fading to the vibrant colours, which have been protected by the dustwrapper - the colours of the book are extremely bright and unfaded. Page block edges beautifully clean. No reading lean to the binding. Spine tight. Internally also near fine with no inscriptions, marks or annotations. No weakness or straining to the page block despite the cheap binding quality of these books. Pages clean and bright - just very lightly tanned - less than usual. ***In a near fine colour illustrated dustwrapper, which retains the original publisher's printed price of £10.99 on the front flap. The dustwrapper is also virtually unblemished, apart from some very light creasing at the edges, and some gentle fading to the colours on the spine - far less than usual - there is usually a lot of fading to the red and the purple colours. ***223 pages. 206mm x 136mm. ***An extremely scarce and desirable third impression of the true first edition of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone", in its original dustwrapper, in beautiful collectable condition, albeit with a little fading to the spine of the dustwrapper. Being such a popular children's book, copies in nice condition are far from easy to find now. The collectible book market did not pay much attention to "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" at first publication, and most copies ended up with children who read and reread the book dozens of times and handled the book accordingly. Consequently, finding a rare third impression in this condition is extremely difficult today. A highly sought-after landmark book that will always hold its value. ***For all our books, postage is charged at cost, allowing for packaging: any shipping rates indicated on ABE are an average only: we will reduce the P & P charge where appropriate - please contact us for postal rates for heavier books and sets etc.
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Unbound: A book or pamphlet which does not have a covering binding, sometimes by original design, sometimes used to describe a book in which the cover has become removed.