Whenever I visit a new country, I try to pick up a copy of the first Harry Potter book in that country’s native language. I chose this particular title because not only do I love it to the ends of the Earth, it’s one of the most widely translated books in history and thus usually pretty easy to find. (I also look for The Golden Compass/Northern Lights by Philip Pullman, but have only been able to find French and English copies so far.) It’s fun to compare the artwork, the translations of some of the proper nouns, and the different ways each language formats the text (dialogue varies pretty widely from language to language, for example).
French
I purchased this copy in Paris in 2002 or 2003, when only four of the books had been published. The back cover only lists the first three, but the fourth is also on the flyleaf, so I assume all four had already been translated into French by this time. The cover art and spot artwork on the back by Jean-Claude Götting are more cutesy than the American versions, and there is no artwork in the main text. You can barely see the lightning-bolt shaped scar on Harry’s forehead if you squint hard enough. The title on the spine reads from bottom to top, the opposite of how most titles are oriented in the United States. To indicate dialogue, this French-language version uses a hyphen at the beginning of the line and no quotation marks at all, leaving the reader to determine from context when the dialogue actually ends. Note that the translation of the title is Harry Potter and the School of Sorcerers and doesn’t mention the stone at all!
British English
It was several years before I traveled outside the United States again. I purchased this copy when I visited London in 2013. I liked that the cover illustrations by Thomas Taylor were different from any of the versions I had seen in America. Dumbledore’s outfit on the back is particularly grand. British English only uses a single quotation mark to indicate dialogue.
Icelandic
You would be forgiven for thinking this was the English language version if you only glanced at it, since the cover art by Mary GrandPré is also the original cover art for the American edition. GrandPre’s chapter artwork is not reproduced. Interestingly, translator Helga Haraldsdottir appears to have changed “Privet” to “Runnaflöt.” Icelandic is a fun language to try to sound out – it uses most of the same alphabet as English, but also includes a few extra letters, including the thorn (Þþ), which was also found in Old English. Reading Icelandic can make an English speaker feel a bit like they’re trying to decipher Beowulf. The Icelandic version uses the double quotation marks to indicate dialogue, but the first set is actually located on the bottom of the line, not the top as it would be in English. (The second set is on the top of the line.) The direction of both the first and second sets are also reversed compared to English, so they are facing out, not in. I purchased this version just last year, in 2018.
Irish
I returned from a 10-day trip to Ireland yesterday, and I was lucky to have found this Irish-language version on my first try. It was the only Harry Potter book in Irish, and in fact the only Irish-language book I could see in the entire store, though I expect they do carry more titles in less prominent locations (or perhaps for special order). While you will find Irish as the primary language on all street signs and other official places in the Republic of Ireland, which I assume is an attempt to help restore the language to more common usage, only 1 in 4 Irish people actually understand any of it or speak it. With this information in mind, I feel fortunate I was able to find a copy of Harry Potter in Irish. The artwork by Jonny Duddle is the same as you’d find on any other Bloomsbury edition of the book, but all my other copies of Harry Potter had other illustrations, so I’m glad to have a copy of this lovely version.