Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone – Gryffindor Edition (Harry Potter, 1) Paperback – 1 Jun. 2017

I suspect these anniversary Bloomsbury editions are aimed at adults who were youngsters when they first read the novels and also for collectors of all things Harry Potter.I fall into neither category; I love the films and thought it time I read the novels that, over the years, I've become persuaded can be enjoyed by all age groups.The dust jackets are matt laminated with, in this case, the Gryffindor coat-of-arms and main title embossed and then all items spot gloss laminated – a very effective print finishing technique that works well with this kind of subject matter. The hardcover book itself has the title and details red foil-blocked on the spine only. A nice addition is the fore-edge printing in striped house colours and a solid colour for the head and foot.The half-title page, colophon, title-page, contents etc. have the coat-of-arms again and various graphic embellishments in an engraved style in keeping with the Harry Potter world and then after the table of contents there's a very nice overview of the house founder, in this case Godric Gryffindor, including a beautiful engraved style illustration ending with a map of Hogwarts Castle and the key locations featured in the tales. There's yet more of the same content and illustrations in the same style at the end of the book featuring various characters and history connected with the particular 'house' and even a quiz.The chapter headings have a 'pitted' letterpress cold-type print effect and a large drop-cap in the same style to begin the first paragraph. The body text font used for this edition is not named in the colophon page which is a shame but it does give the impression of antiquity without being cliched. The line and letter spacing is more than is common I would say making it very easy to read with other novelty fonts used to denote written letters and declarations that occur throughout the Harry Potter stories. I also like the off-white uncoated paper used which suggests the look and feel of old second-hand books; of which I have many!All in all a lot of thought has gone into these publications it seems to me and are well described as special anniversary editions which I think are very good value for money and highly recommended.For my part I intend to buy one each month to complete the set with the main decision being which house version is appropriate for each story in the Harry Potter series and then I'll make a book stand out of some old gnarly wood to display the collection in true Hogwarts style!

A beautiful paperback edition of this classic book.The red cover and red-edged pages are visually highly attractive and I am very tempted to buy the other editions in this format...Also, the story is not bad either.If the author keeps this up, she may well go on to have a very successful career 😉

Great Book as I’m sure we all know. We all know and love the story. The new cover is beautiful for a unique 20th year edition.The quality of the delivery way appalling... I would image that the scratches and, dents and rips happened in the warehouse and not the delivery persons fault.

Very happy with the look and feel of this book. I’ve been collecting the house editions. Love all of them. Great for any Harry Potter fan.Will keep forever as they look great. Great read as well.

Perfect condition

I shall enjoy this very much

Fantastic anniversary special edition. I love that the book has been released in four versions for each of the four houses and that they are also in house colours. The extra information at the front with information about the founders of each house and other information. I love it! Bought all four versions!

Loved it! I know what people mean that the extra content is stuff you know already but it doesn’t bother me. I haven’t read the book since I was child so rereading the books like this is perfect. I love the artwork.