It’s Harry Potter Book Night 2021, an annual event that focuses attention on reading the series again, or for the first time. This year’s theme is Diagon Alley. Due to continued COVID-19 restrictions, many of the usual bookshop gatherings and special events will not take place this year. But that does not mean you cannot …read more!

Most American readers of the Harry Potter series came to know the story when it was published in the United States by Scholastic, the world’s largest publisher of children’s books. Published as Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by Bloomsbury in the UK, the title of the first book in the series was altered to …read more!

Before the boy wizard flew his Nimbus 2000 to worldwide fame, Bloomsbury, the book’s publisher, was uncertain that the magical tale would be a success and demonstrated its skepticism by printing only 500 copies of the first edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. We all know what happened next. The global popularity of …read more!

Bloomsbury is releasing new editions of the Harry Potter series as boxed sets in house colours in both hardcover and paperback. The cover art for each of the seven books is unique to that house, depicting house themes in the series. Each set will also contain 20 exclusive illustrations, quizzes, feature articles, and trivia about …read more!

We all remember the story of how Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was rejected by numerous publishers before finally being picked up by Bloomsbury for £2,500. What you may not remember is the literary agent who took on the job of trying to sell the manuscript. That agent, Christopher Little, deserves some of the …read more!

Join efforts to break a Quidditch Guinness World Record attempt today, all from the comfort of your own home! Bloomsbury Publishing will be hoping to celebrate the release of Quidditch Through The Ages, illustrated by Emily Gravett, by hosting an online world record attempt via Zoom and Microsoft Teams, for the most people to simultaneously …read more!

UPDATE: The auction took place on 21 May. The hardback sold for £33,000 and the paperbacks for  £3,400 and £3,000. Remember, there were only 500 hardback first editions, which makes them quite rare and valuable. Hansons Auctioneers refers to them as “the Holy Grail” for collectors. According to this BBC article, the seller said, “To say I’m …read more!

Leaky recently had the opportunity to interview (socially distanced, using Muggle technology) Monique Peterson, author of The Wand Collection, forthcoming in paperback from Insight Editions on May 12. You can read her insights into wand lore, learn about wand battle choreography, and consider how the concept of magic wands feeds our imagination and perceptions of our own …read more!

New 20th Anniversary cover editions are now available to preorder via Nanmeebooks. These Thai editions are absolutely glorious, so we wanted to show them off! The covers are incredibly detailed. With cover artwork by artist Apolar, who said this is “a dream come true” via their Facebook page. Preorder via Thai booksellers Nanmeebooks at this link early to get …read more!

The Wizarding World team released a first look inside the new illustrated edition of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone from renowned design team MinaLima yesterday. The duo created the graphic design seen in the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts films and brings their trademark stylistic flair to this magical edition set to release Oct. …read more!