Quidditch Through the Ages (real)

Quidditch Through the Ages

Quidditch Through the Ages is a book written, hand-lettered and illustrated byJ. K. Rowling for theComic Relief U.K. charity in2001. Written under the pseudonymKennilworthy Whisp, it is meant to be a copy of the in-universe bookQuidditch Through the Ages. On15 March2018, an audiobook was released, narrated byAndrew Lincoln.^[2]

The premise is that the book has been released to theMuggle world to help raise money for needy causes. It features a blurb and a foreword byAlbus Dumbledore, in which he stresses the only way he was able to take it fromIrma Pince—Librarian of theHogwarts Library—was to "prise her fingers individually from the spine."

The first page is meant to look like a library borrowing log, which features the names of many HogwartsQuidditch players. The nameH. Granger appears near the bottom, as she took it out inHarry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, before the first broom riding lesson. The other names areO. Wood,B. Dunstan,M. Flint,C. Diggory,A. Johnson,E. Macmillan,T. Boot,S. Fawcett,K. Bundy,K. Bell,C. Warrington,J. Dorny,T. Nott,S. Capper,M. Bulstrode,F. Weasley, andH. Potter. The list of dates is problematic, since they seem to indicate that students check out the book during the summer. However, in the2009 UK edition, these dates are changed and names are listed in the library borrowing log, in this order:R. Weasley,N. Longbottom,S. Bones,H. Granger,Padma Patil,E. Macmillan,M. Bulstrode,H. Granger (again), andDraco Malfoy.^[3]

The copyright page featuresPraise forQuidditch Through the Ages, with commentary by wizarding celebritiesBathilda Bagshot,Brutus Scrimgeour,Gilderoy Lockhart,Ludo Bagman,Rita Skeeter, and theEditor ofWhich Broomstick.

Chapters[]

1. The Evolution of the FlyingBroomstick
2. Ancient Broom Games
3. The Game fromQueerditch Marsh
4. The Arrival of theGolden Snitch
5. Anti-Muggle Precautions
6. Changes inQuidditch since the Fourteenth Century
   1. Pitch
   2. Balls
      1. TheQuaffle
      2. TheBludger
      3. TheGolden Snitch
   3. Players
      1. TheKeeper
      2. TheBeaters
      3. TheChasers
      4. TheSeeker
   4. Rules
   5. Fouls
   6. Referees
7. Quidditch Teams of Britain and Ireland
8. The Spread of Quidditch Worldwide
9. The Development of the Racing Broom
10. Quidditch Today

Editions[]

2001 cover

2009 cover

Hogwarts Library cover

2017 UK edition, cover by Jonny Duddle

2017 US edition, cover by Headcase Design

2019 Hebrew edition cover

2020 US Illustrated Edition

2020 UK Illustrated Edition

Bulgarian Cover

Bulgarian Illustrated cover

Behind the scenes[]

The Harry Potter Wiki has 110 images related toQuidditch Through the Ages (real).

• A discrepancy in the in-universe book is that although Harry had the book in his first year (1991-1992), there is an event listed that occurred in1994. It is, however, possible, that the "real" edition was updated. (Although this is unlikely, as the Nimbus 2000 and 2001 brooms were launched in 1991 and 1992 respectively, and the most recent Nimbus broom mentioned in the book is the 1700.)
• This book is available in the Muggle world (which would appear to be a breach to theInternational Statute of Wizarding Secrecy even if Dumbledore writes that everything is "fictional"), for the purpose of raising money for charity.
• There are seven illustrations throughout the text (labelled Fig. A to Fig. G) by Rowling, in addition to an illustration of a flying Quidditch ball at the end of the text (from the ‘Whizz Hard Books’ logo) byPolly Napper.^{[citation needed]}
• The American editions ofFantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them andQuidditch Through the Ages were not Americanized. The publisher Arthur A. Levine stated‘… those are exactly the same – we didn’t have time or anything… Did I change the spellings? I might have… I might not have… Because, of course, the conceit is that it’s a British school book anyway. It’s not narrated…’ A note about Comic Relief by Rowling is unique to the American edition and the text of the ‘Foreword’ has also been changed slightly to identify the charity as ‘Comic Relief U.K.’^[4]
• The French edition contains a glossary with the translation of the originally British Quidditch terms into French "created by theAcadémie française des sorciers."
• In 2017,Bloomsbury Publishing released a new edition of the book featuring interior illustrations by Tomislav Tomic.
• On15 March2018, an audiobook with bonus content was released via Audible. The Audible edition is the first ever narration of the book and the bonus content, over two hours long, is content written by J.K. Rowling forPottermore regarding the2014 Quidditch World Cup.
• In celebration of the Illustrated Edition release in October2020, eleven towns throughout the UK with ties to known Quidditch teams, includingHolyhead andBallycastle, were honoured with decorative Quidditch hoops and banners that included their team's name and crest.^[5]

Notes and references[]