Near-pristine copy of the scarce first edition, fifth UK Bloomsbury printing of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, with a number line of 10 9 8 7 6 5. According to Errington [p.4], the fifth printing had a publication figure of only 500 hardback copies. The copyright page credits Joanne Rowling with no space between Thomas Taylor and the year. This early printing features the original illustration of the brown-haired young wizard on the reverse and spine, which was later replaced by an image of Dumbledore. It does not yet have the Hogwarts shield on the title pages, which was used in all subsequent printings.
Exceptional fine pictorial boards with sharp spine ends and corners. The binding is very tight, and the endpapers are clean with no marks, inscriptions, or stamps. Pages are clean and bright without the usual browning to the edges. The book is undoubtedly unread. The first edition unclipped dust jacket is in an almost fine condition with minor wrinkling at the spine ends but withour wear and no fading whatsoever. Now protected by a Brodart removable archival book cover. A marvelous copy of this scarce Harry Potter book.
