book differences & Canon, was Gringotts vaults

[datalaur]

No: HPFGUIDX 40219

> Gretchen replied:
> > I checked my US addition of PoA and 
> > the vault number is not in the letter from Sirius to Harry. 

sarah:
> Thanks for the reply, Gretchen.  It's interesting that Black's  
vault # isn't listed in the US edition.


I just recently heard the Stephen Fry tapes of HPSS and it seems like 
there are a lot of differences between the English and American books 
(assuming the tapes are made directly from the English written 
version).  I had thought it was of the "loo to bathroom, fringe to 
bangs" type of change but it seems quite a bit more than that.  (I 
had wondered why people quoted which version/chapter and page -- now 
I know.)  I'm tempted to sit there with a book and compare to the 
tape.

Can anyone discuss how the books wound up so different -- did JKR re-
edit for the American version?  How are people dealing with the canon 
changes wrought by the differences?  This "vault 711" is just one 
detail that could have been rather important.  If one buys into 
the "every detail is important" theory.  If so... is it plausible 
that the American version (which is presumably a later version) is a 
somehow "better", she-got-a-second-chance-to-fix-things version?  In 
other words, does one have more 'weight' than the other in canon?

very curious,
laur