Harry Potter: A History of Magic

This beautiful volume is one of two official books published in conjunction with the Harry Potter: A History of Magic exhibition that was held at the British Library in London between October 2017–February 2018.A collaboration between the British Library, Bloomsbury (the UK publisher of the Harry Potter series), and J.K. Rowling, the exhibition was created to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the publication of the first Harry Potter book. Featured were documents and artifacts from the development of the Harry Potter series along with real-world magical artifacts.The book, like the exhibition, includes various sections based on classes taught at Hogwarts (e.g. herbology, divination, care of magical creatures, and so forth). The chapters have images of the artifacts and documents from the exhibition, including a few pages of Harry Potter book drafts, a map of the grounds around Hogwarts, and drawings of characters from the Wizarding World (all created by Rowling)! The documents from Rowling are my favorite; I enjoy being able to see how Rowling herself envisioned Hogwarts and the characters, as the artwork featured in most Harry Potter books was created by artists working for the various book publishers. Just FYI, the number of pages devoted to the history of real-word magic and artifacts does outnumber the Harry Potter stuff.Harry Potter: A History of Magic (ISBN 9781408890769) is the larger of the two books published by Bloomsbury for the exhibition. It is hardcover, geared towards older readers, and because of its size contains more of what was shown in the exhibition. Bloomsbury's second book, Harry Potter - A Journey Through A History of Magic (ISBN 9781408890776) is paperback, smaller, and geared towards families.When the exhibition opened in London, Scholastic (the US publisher of the Harry Potter series) published the smaller family oriented Harry Potter: A Journey Through a History of Magic (ISBN 9781338267105) in the United States. I believe the only major difference between the Bloomsbury edition and the Scholastic edition is different cover artwork. The exhibition is going to be opening in New York City in October 2018, and Scholastic will be displaying some of their collection related to publishing the Harry Potter series in the United States. When that exhibition opens, Scholastic will be publishing their own version of the larger Harry Potter: A History of Magic.Because Scholastic will be adapting the larger book for American audiences—more so than they did with the smaller book—I chose to purchase the Bloomsbury edition of the larger book here on Amazon and will purchase the Scholastic edition once it is published as well. I didn't feel I was missing out on any new content by purchasing only the Scholastic edition of the smaller book.

I have no words when it come to the beauty of this book. I’m awe at how amazing the pics are. The real world bits of magical info in it is an intriguing bonus. Amazon asks for an age range I’d recommend. I’d say it varies because each child is different. With my own children I’d say age 6 with adult guidance. I highly recommend this book.

through the eyes of both Muggles and Wizards and Witches.This book is absolutely beautiful and amazing. As a fan of natural history, European history and magical history, this companion to, arguably, one of the best literary works of my generation, is just... - for lack of a better term - magical.I especially love all of the behind the scenes bits from Jo, and the depictions from the various illustrators. I also love that Professor Binns wasn't in charge of narrating, or I might possibly have smudged it up by falling asleep on it. That would be especially bad since, lately, I seem to be getting a great many first edition copies from Amazon, and this book was no exception. I'm even a little sad that it is actually a first edition, since it becomes rather impossible to read or even handle a book that could potentially fetch millions down the road... As Snape says, however... 'I'll do my best.'

So I purchased this book in order to understand some of the background and history behind the gigantic, full of folklore world of HP and I wasn’t disappointed. The book is very well written with accompanying photographs, manuscripts and detailed illustrations from various artists including extremely rare pieces of art made by J.K Rowling before she became the world’s most notable children’s writer (except that HP books are pretty much for everyone regardless of age lol)The printing quality of the pages is also spot on and the colors are very good.The book is organized very well and gives you a glimpse into the magical world in separated chapters (Herbals, Divination, Dark Arts etc)So if you’re a Harry Potter fan, Don’t hesitate too much and get it for yourself - definitely worth it.

This book is great and the pictures are bright.

The book was great but I used it more as an addition to the audible book. It was great to look at the pictures while the audible describes each picture in detail and with the actual artist explaining what they were thinking when they did the art work. Much more information in the audible and really discussed the history of what many of us may consider magic back during times when humans were still discovering new continents. Does a good job of understanding the origins of when people started believing in magic. Modern medicine and investigation today would, of course, prove it all to be false. Overall, good book for Harry Potter fans and also for those that enjoy world history.

Beautifully illustrated book full of interesting facts and anecdotes about the creation and world of Harry Potter. It combines Harry’s world with the larger world of magic down through history. The magic continues with this book and the genius of JK Rowling is well represented. The British Museum celebrated the 20th year anniversary of the publication of the first book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. This book is a companion to that exhibition. If you couldn’t travel to London to see the exhibit for yourself this book will take you there. Just like magic!This book was loving packaged and arrrived in pristine condition from India. Transit time was faster than anticipated. Well done.