'Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone' by JK Rowling. Here, we take a look at some little-known trivia dating right back to the first drafts, from early rejections to the original character names. The 2000s saw Harry Potter mania take over the world, as Potterheads queued up and camped out for every new book release, each declaring themselves a proud Gryffindor, a cunning Slytherin, a brainy Ravenclaw or a lovable Hufflepuff.īut even the Hermione Grangers of the world don’t know everything about Harry and co.

Meanwhile, The Sunday Times puts JK Rowling's earnings at $1.1 billion, in a rags to riches tale that suitably mirrors Harry’s own rise from the cupboard under the stairs. The subsequent film franchise is the fourth highest grossing of all time with $9.2 billion in worldwide receipts, according to fan site Movieweb. JK Rowling first had the idea for Harry Potter during a train ride. Today, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone has sold 120 million copies and counting, while more than 500 million copies of the entire seven-book series have flown off the shelves. Fans would later hear how struggling single mum Rowling spent hours in an Edinburgh coffee shop working on the novels. The first novel by JK Rowling was published by Bloomsbury in an initial run of 500 copies.

On Sunday, it will be 25 years since a bushy-faced half-giant burst into our lives and changed everything with four monumental words: “Yer a wizard, Harry.”Īnd, though the wizard in question was bespectacled orphan, Harry Potter, 11, the friendly oaf transformed all our lives on June 26, 1997, when he flung open the doors to the wizarding world with a sweep of his pink umbrella.

Harry potter 25th anniversary books