"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," the last of seven installments of the boy wizard's adventures, will be published July 21, author J.K. Rowling said Thursday.

Rowling announced the publication date on her Web site.

Bloomsbury, her British publisher, said it would publish a children's hardback edition, an adult hardback, a special gift edition and an audio book on the same day.

Scholastic Children's Books, the U.S. publisher, said it would offer a hardback edition at a suggested retail price of $34.99, a deluxe edition at $65.00 and a reinforced library edition at $39.99.

Bloomsbury noted that this year is the 10th anniversary of the publication of the first "Harry Potter" book in the phenomenally successful series.

The "Potter" books have sold 325 million copies worldwide and been translated into 64 languages, Bloomsbury said.

The last book, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," sold 2,009,574 copies in Britain on the first day of its release, Bloomsbury said.

The Potter franchise is so important to the company's earnings that it announced the publication to the London Stock Exchange.

Bloomsbury shares were up 2.2 percent to $4.40 after the announcement.

Less than six months!

I'm not as a big a fan of the books a I was when I was 12, but I still like them, and am looking forward to seeing how J. K. Rowling wraps the series up.

I hope Snape turns out to be good, and I'd like Percy to reconcile with his family.

This news made my day!! I so cannot wait. This is going to be a great summer w/ movie 5 almost a week before book 7!

I can't wait for my copy, although I will be sad this is going to be the final Harry Potter book ever published...

i have a friend who thinks it's a trick and there may be more books coming? maybe it's just hopefull wishing.

I didn't like the books when they first came out 'cause i thought they were childish. But, once I actually read them, I realized they were really good. I read 6 in 1 day, and I fully anticipate doing the same with this one!

I read 6 in 1 day

For a moment there, I thought you meant you'd read all six books in one day!:lol:

For a moment there, I thought you meant you'd read all six books in one day!:lol:

That's what I thought, too! hehe.

I am both looking foward and dreading it at the same time, it's so weird to think that it will be all over.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc. said on Friday first-day advance orders for "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," the seventh and last installment of J.K. Rowling's successful book series, were 547 percent higher than for its predecessor.

Thursday's pre-orders for "Deathly Hallows" exceeded the first two weeks of pre-orders for its predecessor, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," Seattle-based Amazon said. "Half-Blood Prince," released in July 2005, generated more than 1.5 million pre-orders on Amazon, the online retailer said.

The final Harry Potter book is slated for release on July 21. Scholastic Corp. publishes the book in the United States, while Bloomsbury Publishing handles the book in Great Britain.

I am so excited. That is a lot sooner then I thought. It will be sad when it's all over.

I wonder how long it will be...

I'm looking forward to it. :)

For a moment there, I thought you meant you'd read all six books in one day!:lol:

Oh! Oops! yeah...sorry! Though that would have been incredibly more impressive!

For a moment there, I thought you meant you'd read all six books in one day!:lol:


I read the first Harry Potter book in only three days. I still think the first book was the best. Though I didn't much care for the movie.

My favorite book was Prisoner, but I don't think the book served it justice in the least

I read the first Harry Potter book in only three days. I still think the first book was the best. Though I didn't much care for the movie.

Out of all four films, I like the first one the best.

Prisoner of Azkaban and Order of the Phoenix are my favourites, which Philosopher's Stone probably coming next.

I like the Goblet of Fire and then the Prisoner of Azkaban