First Edition Points and Criteria for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (U.S.)

Year Published: 1999
Author Last Name: Rowling
Author First Name: J.K.
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Original Price: $17.95
Pages: 341

The copyright page has the full number line "10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1       9/9 0/0 1 2 3 4". Below the number line is "Printed in the U.S.A. 37", and below that is "First American edition, June 1999." Boards are blue with an embossed diamond pattern, and a green cloth spine. The dust jacket has $17.95 price on the upper corner of the front flap. The dust jacket back has a diagonal bar code field on the left side, and the small bar code within has the number "51795". The spine on both the book and dust jacket lack the YEAR 2 badge that was introduced later, and silver lettering is raised on the spine of the dust jacket.

With the early printings there are two states of the binding that have been found on the first through the sixth printings. The first state binding lacks the YEAR 2 badge on the spine, while the second state binding has the YEAR 2 badge. There are also three states of the dust jacket that can be found on the same early printing books. The first state lacks the YEAR 2 badge and has a price of $17.95. The second state has the YEAR 2 badge with the $17.95 price. The third state has the YEAR 2 badge and a price of $19.95. The presence of these states suggests that earlier bindings and jackets were used with the pages from later printings during the production process. The most desirable book is the first printing with the first state binding in the first state dust jacket.

Note: There are book club editions that have the same full number line as the true first U.S. edition. But they lack the embossed diamond pattern on the book boards. A book club edition is far less valuable than the true first U.S. edition.


Picture of the 1999 first edition dust jacket for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (U.S.).


Picture of the first edition copyright page for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (U.S.).


Picture of dust jacket where original $17.95 price is found for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (U.S.).


Picture of the back dust jacket for the first edition of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (U.S.).


Picture of the first edition Scholastic Press boards for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (U.S.).


Picture of the back dust jacket flap for the first edition of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (U.S.).

Other first edition points for books by J.K. Rowling include: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (U.S.), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (U.S.), Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (U.S.), Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (U.S.), Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (U.S.), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (U.S.), Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.