(London), Bloomsbury, (1997-1999). The uncorrected proof copies of the first three Harry Potter books -- the only proofs that were issued in the series: after the first three books, the novels were so popular that proofs were no longer produced for distribution. The first volume is white with a yellow stripe; 224 pp.; and lists "Joanne Rowling" on the copyright page and "J.A Rowling" on the title page. The second volume is blue with white; 252 pp. (although it claims on the rear cover to be 256 pp.); and leaves the Dedication page blank beyond the word "Dedication." The third volume is the first issue, purple with white, with textual variations between this issue and the published book (there was also a later, green and white issue); 315 pp. (although it also claims to be 256 pp. on the rear cover); the dedication page reads "? dedication." The first volume is slightly dusty and has a small, faint erasure in the yellow stripe; the first and second volumes each have a slight corner crease to the lower front cover; else the set is fine in wrappers. Housed together in a custom clamshell case. Reportedly, there were only 200 copies of the proof for Philosopher's Stone and only 50 copies of the purple proof for Prisoner of Azkaban, which means that no more than 50 sets such as this could ever be assembled, making this perhaps the rarest set of Harry Potter items possible, as well as the earliest versions of any of the novels to be brought into the world, after the manuscripts. A rare set of these modern classics. The seven book series has worldwide sales in excess of 400 million copies. [#026871] SOLD