Harry Potter: A History of Magic is an exhibition of real-world wizarding artefacts and history, including artefacts which were part of the development of the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling. It features ancient artefacts, rare books, manuscripts, and magical objects which belong to the British Library, the New-York Historical Society, and other museums too.
History[]
In October 2017, the exhibition opened at the British Library to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the publication of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. It was a collaboration between the British Library, Bloomsbury and Rowling. The British Library installed smaller displays in 22 libraries across the United Kingdom. The artefacts were themed around subjects offered at Hogwarts. It ran until February 2018.[1]
At the same time the exhibition opened, two official publications were released in conjunction, Harry Potter: A History of Magic and Harry Potter: A Journey Through a History of Magic. BBC Two broadcasted a documentary too.
In October 2018, the exhibition was presented at the New-York Historical Society. It was twenty years since the publication of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in the United States. They featured Mary GrandPré's artwork for the first time in the exhibition. It run until January 2019.[2]
In March 2020, the exhibition was put online for free in a collaboration between the British Library and Google Arts & Culture. It includes highlights and interactive experiences.[3]
In September 2021, the exhibition opened in Japan at the Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art until November. It then went to Tokyo until February 2022 at the Tokyo Station Gallery.[4] It was originally scheduled to open in 2020, but had to be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[5]
Artefacts[]
- Ripley Scroll: describes the process of making a philosopher's stone.
- Nicolas Flamel's headstone.
- Original drafts of the Harry Potter books and original artwork by Rowling.
Notes and references[]
External links[]
- Online exhibition by the British Library and Google Arts & Culture
- Official Japanese website