Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: Illustrated edition
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (often referred to as simply Fantastic Beasts) is a 2001 guide book written by British author J. K. Rowling (under the pen name of the fictitious author Newt Scamander) about the magical creatures in the Harry Potter universe. The original version, illustrated by the author herself, purports to be Harry Potter’s copy of the textbook of the same name mentioned in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (or Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in the US), the first novel of the Harry Potter series. It includes several notes inside it supposedly handwritten by Harry, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger, detailing their own experiences with some of the beasts described, and including inside-jokes relating to the original series.
In a 2001 interview with publisher Scholastic, Rowling stated that she chose the subject of magical creatures because it was a fun topic for which she had already developed much information in earlier books. Rowling’s name did not appear on the cover of the first edition, the work being credited under the pen name “Newt Scamander”, who, in the books, wrote this textbook as seen on Harry’s supply list for his first year.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (often referred to as simply Fantastic Beasts) is a 2001 guide book written by British author J. K. Rowling (under the pen name…