Can you believe it's 20 years since the publication of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone?
Joanne
Rowling, as she was known then, dreamed up the story of the
bespectacled boy wizard on a train trip between London and Manchester.
She
finished the manuscript in 1995, writing much of it in cafes in
Edinburgh while her baby from her first marriage slept in a pram.
After
many rejections, the manuscript was eventually picked up by Bloomsbury.
The first hardback print run, which came out on 26 June 1997, was just
500 copies.
Then something magic happened. That first book - and
the six that followed - went on to sell more than 450 million copies
around the world.
It got kids (and adults) reading ...
It also got people writing ...
It spawned one of the world's biggest film franchises ...
| | |
|
|
|
Young stars: Emma Watson, Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint (Warner Bros/Getty Images) |
Source: BBCNews 26 June 2017
It has been 20 years since Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was published.
But how much do you know about the books that bought us the boy wizard?
Here are some magic numbers.
Watch the video on BBCNews