Harry Potter Pub Date Announced

Booksellers, start planning your Potter parties. On February 1, Scholastic announced that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling, the seventh and final book in the bestselling series, has been scheduled for release at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, July 21, 2007.

"We are thrilled to announce the publication date of the seventh installment in this remarkable series," said Lisa Holton, president of Scholastic Children's Books, in a statement. "We join J.K. Rowling's millions of readers -- young and old, veterans and newcomers -- in anticipating what lies ahead."

Scholastic will publish Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (ISBN: 0-545-01022-5; Price: $34.99) in hardcover under the Arthur A. Levine imprint with interior and cover art by Mary GrandPre, who has illustrated the previous six books. The deluxe edition (ISBN: 0-545-02937-6; Price: $65) and reinforced library edition (ISBN: 0-545-02936-8; Price: $39.99 ) will be published simultaneously.

According to Scholastic, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the sixth Potter book, was the fastest-selling book in history, selling 6.9 million copies in the first 24 hours. There are currently over 120 million copies of the Harry Potter books in print in the U.S. alone.

Last month, Scholastic created placement artwork that booksellers can use in connection with any efforts concerning the seventh Harry Potter book.