The idea for "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" (titled "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" in the United States) came to J.K. Rowling during a train journey from Manchester to London in 1990. The initial spark of inspiration was the sudden mental image of a boy who didn't know he was a wizard until he received a letter inviting him to attend a school of magic. This boy was Harry Potter.

Rowling began writing the first draft of the novel shortly after this inspiration, though it took her several years to complete it due to personal circumstances that included raising her daughter and moving to Portugal. She wrote most of the book in Edinburgh, Scotland, where she lived after her move from Portugal.

The story was initially rejected by multiple publishers before being accepted by Bloomsbury in the UK. The book was later published in the U.S. by Scholastic under the title "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone."