Harry Potter Published
In June 1997, the small London publisher Bloomsbury released Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, the first novel by a little-known Scottish-based author named J.K. Rowling. It was an modest debut, with a first print run of only about a thousand copies, many of which went to libraries. Yet it launched one of the best-selling book series in history and grew into a vast cultural and commercial franchise that shaped a generation of young readers.
Rowling conceived the idea for a boy who discovers he is a wizard in the early 1990s, reportedly during a delayed train journey to London. She wrote much of the first book over several years while teaching abroad, then raising her daughter as a single mother in Edinburgh. The manuscript was rejected by a number of publishers before Bloomsbury accepted it, reportedly after the chairman's young daughter read the opening chapter and asked for more. Rowling was advised to use initials rather than her first name, on the assumption that boys might be reluctant to read a book by a woman, and she chose "J.K." Her publisher's editors also supported a children's fiction market that was then not considered especially lucrative.
The novel follows Harry, an orphan raised by unsympathetic relatives, who learns on his eleventh birthday that he is famous in a hidden magical world and is invited to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It blends the conventions of the English boarding-school story with fantasy, mystery and humor, and it builds toward a confrontation with the dark wizard Voldemort. Early reviews were warm, and the book won several British children's awards. Word of mouth did much of the rest.
The book's success accelerated rapidly. In 1998 the American publisher Scholastic released it in the United States as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, changing the title because of concerns that American children would find "philosopher" unappealing. Six further novels followed, ending with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in 2007. Later volumes were released at midnight events with queues of fans, an unusual spectacle for children's literature. The series has been translated into dozens of languages, and sales are commonly estimated in the hundreds of millions of copies.
The legacy extends well beyond print. A successful film series, theme parks, a stage play and a spin-off film franchise followed. The books are often credited with helping spark a boom in children's and young-adult publishing and with encouraging many young people to read long novels. They have also drawn criticism and controversy, including objections from some religious groups and, in more recent years, debate over Rowling's public statements on gender issues. Even so, the 1997 release remains a landmark moment in modern popular culture.