Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (First Australian edition)

London : Bloomsbury, 1998 (but possibly 1999). Printed and bound in Australia by Australian Print Group, Marlborough, Vic. First issue of the first Australian edition, with number line 10 9 8 7 6 4 3 2 1. Octavo, laminated boards (slight bump to corners and head and foot of spine) in illustrated dustjacket (lightly edge worn); pp. 251; [blank]; [12], a fine, clean copy.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was printed in London on 30 June 1997, and would spawn a multi-billion dollar industry of publications, films and merchandise. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was first published in the U.K. on 2nd July 1998, the Australian edition presumably following later that year. The final leaves contain reproductions of the covers of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (first published in the UK 8 July 1999), meaning it could either be a pre-publication advertisement or indicate a 1999 printing.

A fine example of the first Australian edition of one of the icons of children’s literature. Copies in this condition are increasingly scarce in the market.