British meaning?

[davewitley]

Barbara asked:

> I was just wondering if the British definition of "Philosopher" is 
> close to the American definition of "Sorcerer." If not, I can't 
> understand the change from the British to American book versions. 
A 
> philosopher is a thinker, a scholar, in the American dictionary. 
> Sorcerer means magician. So I was just wonder if there is a 
British 
> meaning of Philosopher that is close to magician or did the 
> publishers just make a goofy change for us dumb Americans? :^)

As Wayne said, it's not really a matter of British versus American 
usage.  The Philosopher's Stone is real in the sense that it was 
something alchemists used to try to find or make.  JKR's description 
is accurate enough (if you believe in magic), though I'm not sure 
whether alchemists saw wealth and long life in literal or symbolic 
terms.  A bit of both, probably.

As I recall, the Scholastic were concerned, not so much with the 
ability of audiences to understand or enjoy the book, as with their 
initial reaction on seeing the cover.  After all, they couldn't 
anticipate the huge word-of-mouth spread of HP, and were considering 
how the title would affect the decision someone would make, on 
picking up the book in a store for the first time.  They may very 
well have been right, as far as the USA was concerned.

David