New "Harry Potter" book to be published July 21, author says

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," the last of seven installments of the boy wizard's adventures, will be published July 21, author J.K. Rowling said Thursday.

Photo: New "Harry Potter" book to be published July 21, author says

Rowling announced the publication date on her Web site.

Bloomsbury, her British publisher, said it would publish a a children's hardback edition, an adult hardback, a special gift edition and an audio book on the same day.

Bloomsbury noted that this year is the 10th anniversary of the publication of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone," the beginning of the phenomenally successful series, reports AP.

The Potter books have sold 325 million copies worldwide and been translated into 64 languages, Bloomsbury said.

The last book, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," sold 2,009,574 copies in Britain on the first day of its release, Bloomsbury said.

The Potter franchise is so important to the company's earnings that it announced the publication to the London Stock Exchange.