How ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’ got published

Twenty-five years ago Bloomsbury published the first book by the then-unknown Joanne Rowling. Sean Smith, who wrote a biography of the author, tells the story of how it happened

The boy who took over the world, ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’ has sold over 140 million copies worldwide (Alamy)

The first three chapters of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone went – unread – straight into the reject basket of manuscripts at the offices of the Christopher Little Literary Agency in Fulham, London. It was obviously a children’s book and the agency didn’t handle them because Little didn’t think they made any money.

Fortunately for millions of subsequent readers, Little’s personal assistant, Bryony Evans, would always have a flick through the discarded submissions just in case one grabbed her attention. She fished out the story of a boy wizard that, at this stage, consisted of a synopsis and three chapters which was a standard offering for most agents.