Hogwarts’ headmaster’s name, Dumbledore, has a deeper meaning. It’s actually an Old English word for “bumblebee.” Rowling has said that she chose that name because she always thought of Dumbledore humming to himself. [1]
J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was first published on 26 June 1997 by Bloomsbury in London. It is the first in a series of seven fantasy novels and Rowling spent six years working on it. Just 500 first edition hardback copies were printed. After it was published, Rowling obtained a grant of £8,000 from the Scottish Arts Council which enabled her to plan the sequels.
Harry Potter is a young wizard who discovers his magical heritage on his eleventh birthday after receiving a letter of acceptance to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry makes close friends and a few enemies during his first year at the school and with the help of his friends, he faces an attempted comeback by the dark wizard Lord Voldemort. With a diverse cast of characters, imaginative situations, and a myriad of exciting details, the first instalment in the series created an unforgettable magical world.
Rowling states that she was influenced by Jane Austen, one of her favourite authors, Roald Dahl, whose works dominated children’s stories, and the Ancient Greek storyteller Homer.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone has won most of the British book awards judged by children and the book reached the top of the New York Times list of best-selling fiction in August 1999. It has been translated into at least 73 languages and has sold in excess of 120 million copies, making it one of the best selling novels of all time and the series has been credited with inspiring a new generation of readers.
The book was adapted into a film, starting the Harry Potter film series. The film, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was released in 2001 and starred Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson.