Harry Potter and the Philosopher 's Stone was published by Bloomsbury, the publisher of all Harry Potter books in the United Kingdom, on 26 June 1997. It was released in the United States on 1 September 1998 by Scholastic -- the American publisher of the books -- as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer 's Stone, after Rowling had received US $105,000 for the American rights -- a record amount for a children 's book by an unknown author. Fearing that American readers would not associate the word "philosopher '' with magic (although the Philosopher 's Stone is an ancient tradition in alchemy), Scholastic insisted that the book be given the title Harry Potter and the Sorcerer 's Stone for the American market.
when was harry potter first published in the us
1 September 1998