What the question says... Is the concept of "apparition" (as a means of transport from one place to another) introduced by the Harry Potter novels or did it exist prior to it ?
Googling for "apparition" sans Harry Potter provides ghosts and such but nothing else that's relevant.
Apparition, from its Latin base, simply means to appear, if suddenly. This can be seen in many definitions and dictionaries.
a supernatural appearance of a person orthing, especially a ghost; a specter orphantom; wraith. Dictionary.reference.com
ap·pa·ri·tion Origin late Middle English (in the sense ‘the action of appearing’): from Latin apparitio(n-) ‘attendance,’ from the verb apparere
The meaning of apparition in Harry Potter isn't really about the actual travel, but how they disappear and appear suddenly, as if into/out of nowhere.
While it hasn't been used in most media, the Harry Potter usage is in line with the basic definition, and could be called teleporting if Harry Potter was scifi, but since it's fantasy, it needs a spooky twist.
It's apparation not apparition. See for example in the Order of the Phoenix chapter 7 when Harry is viting the Ministry of Magic:
The doors closed, the lift juddered upward again, and the woman’s voice said, “Level six, Department of Magical Transport, incorporating the Floo Network Authority, Broom Regulatory Control, Portkey Office, and Apparation Test Center.”
I've never come across the term apparation in any other book. It's not in my (Concise) OED so I'd guess it's a term J. K. Rowling made up.
This is not a made-up concept found solely in Harry Potter; it is in fact embedded in the myths of many cultures. J.K. Rowling actually used a great deal of cultural diversity and word play in her writing. Many old stories about witches include apparation/apparition.
