Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, London, 1998
First Edition, First Printing, INSCRIBED AND SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR in the year of publication “To Jonathan with best wishes J.K. Rowling” A superb inscription with a wonderful association. Near fine book with a near fine condition dust jacket. Not bookclub, Not the Australian edition, Not the Ted Smart edition, Not the Canadian edition, but the scarce true first/first Bloomsbury edition with the complete number line of 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 . Signed and Inscribed copies of this title are extremely scarce. Signed by Rowling at her book launch at Waterstones in Aberdeen in 1998.
Ex: Bonhams, accompanied by the purchase invoice and tag number.
Provenance: Inscribed by the author for the vendor when he was a child. He recalls the circumstances:
“It is a primary school teacher named Mrs Pope that is to be thanked for it coming into my possession. She had started reading JK Rowling’s first book (Philosopher’s Stone) to my class just before all the hype started. Before Chamber of Secrets was released JK Rowling held a competition where she had her fans write letters about how much they enjoyed the first book. Her favourite letters would be hand picked and be published in the “Chamber of Secrets”. Everyone in my class entered the competition (along with thousands of other Children). I didn’t win, but a girl in my class named Fiona Chadwick did. You can see her letter reproduced in the back of Chamber. As a result of our classmate winning, my entire class were invited to her book launch at Waterstones in Aberdeen. JK Rowling read us the first 2 chapters of the book. It was magical hearing her give life to her words. I particularly remember her impersonating Dobby. She signed each of my classmates books and left a personal message in the cover of each one. We were all delighted and star struck”.
Fiona Chadwick’s letter to J.K Rowling referred to by Jonathan in his account above is now forever published in the back of the Chamber of Secrets. We have included an image of that page in this listing, you can spot it on the left side at the very top.
Condition:
The book has near fine pictorial boards displaying the same image as on the dust jacket, one of Harry and Ron in flight in their car. The boards have sharp corners and no edgewear. The boards have the nice original sheen and still retain their bright vibrant colors. The binding is tight and square. The end papers are clean. INSCRIBED AND SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR to the front fly leaf “To Jonathan with best wishes J.K. Rowling”. The internal pages are clean, bright and flat with no stains, no writing, no bent pages, and no foxing. Beautiful, signed book with a fantastic association. Ex: Bonhams.
The near fine original first edition dust jacket, with a very slight touch of wear at outer extremities; has but a slight bit of fading along the top edge, and with no fading at all to the spine. The jacket otherwise maintains strong vibrant colors. The dust jacket is NOT price clipped and has a stated price of 10.99 British pounds.
A very handsome example of this title in extremely scarce collectible condition, presenting very well with the stunning jacket and crisp, clean interior. Would make a great addition to a Harry Potter collection.
