Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, London, 1997
FIRST Hardcover Edition, FIFTH Printing Fine/Near fine crisp book and Fine/near fine vibrant original dust jacket. Not bookclub, Not the Australian edition, Not the Ted Smart edition, Not the Canadian edition, but the scarce true first/fifth Bloomsbury edition with the complete number line of 10 9 8 7 6 5. The 1st and 2nd Imp Hardback printings of this book were issued without a dust jacket, the third printing was historically significant as it was the first printing which included a dust jacket. This is the very scarce fifth printing hardback edition, especially scarce in this condition. The rear wrapper has the very early picture of Dumbledore as a young man. The publisher page credits Joanne Rowling and contains no space between “r” and “1” on Thomas Taylor1997 in error.
The book has fine/near fine pictorial boards displaying the same image as on the dust jacket (and the same image as on the first edition, first printing). The boards are in stunning condition with no edgewear and sharp corners. The boards still retain their bright vibrant colors. The binding is tight and square and still snaps shut when opened. The end papers are clean, bright and flat with no marks, no inscriptions, no book plates and no bookstore stamps. The internal pages are clean, bright and flat, the pages are crisp with no stains, no writing, no bent pages, and no foxing. Stunning beautiful book appearing as unread!
The stunning original first edition dust jacket is in a fine/near fine unrestored condition with strong vibrant colors with just very slight fading to the spine. Otherwise No edgewear, No rips, No chips, No stains, and No rubbing. The dust jacket is NOT price clipped and has a stated price of 10.99 British pounds. The rear wrapper has the very early picture of Dumbledore as a young man.
A very handsome example of this title at a great price, presenting very well with the stunning jacket and crisp, clean interior.