Magic for a Muggle Christmas

We’ve almost always got a copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone on the store shelves, but none quite like this.

Want to know what would show up in my Mirror of Erised? This first American edition, first printing of Sorcerer's Stone.

There is a long, long list of points to identify a first printing of the first edition, but the biggest clues to search for are the number line on the copyright page and elements on the dust jacket.

It’s pretty simple - the number line will appear as follows: 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 8 9/9 0/0 01 02. (Easy enough to remember, right? Just replace the brain space that memorized the first 20 digits of pi with this - more important- number.)

The dust jacket is easier to identify on the spot - it will have a review from “The Guardian” on the rear cover (in later printings to be replaced by one from “Publisher’s Weekly”), and lacks the “Year 1” printed on the spine in subsequent editions.

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Don’t be fooled by Book Club editions! Book clubs will reprint facsimile editions of first editions, with cheaper materials and the smallest of tells to indicate that they are not a true first edition. In this case, a book club edition may have the same number line as a true first, but will not have the embossed diamond pattern on its purple covers.

$1,500

Accio, first edition!