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In 2016, the publisher Scholastic has pulled the English versions of the book Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (by Newt Scamander) from the stores, and promised to publish a new version in 2017. The new book is now published.

What are the most significant differences between the old and the new version? (Besides the new one being more expensive because it's only available in hardcover at first, I mean.)

cover of old book cover of old book

I suspect there are probably some differences, because why else would the publisher pull the previous version?

Note that I am not asking about the screenplay book of the film by the same name, because that's a different book entirely. The cover images above are only for illustration.

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Things changed:

  • Newt is no longer said to have graduated Hogwarts.

    2001 Upon graduation from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Mr. Scamander joined the Ministry of Magic in the Department for the regulation and Control of Magical Creatures.

    2017 Upon leaving Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Mr. Scamander joined the Ministry of Magic in the Department for the regulation and Control of Magical Creatures.

  • Fantastic Beasts is now in its 2nd edition, not 52nd edition.

    2001 during which he collected information for his worldwide best-seller Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, now in its fifty-second edition.

    2017 during which he collected information for his worldwide best-seller Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

    2001 The rest is publishing history: Fantastic Beasts is now in its fifty-second edition.

    2017 The rest is publishing history.

    2001 Seventy-five species are described in the following pages, but I do not doubt that some time this year yet another will be discovered, necessitating a fifty-third revised edition of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

    2017 Eighty-one species are described in the following pages, but I do not doubt that more will be discovered, necessitating another revised edition of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

    enter image description here

Things added:

  • A new foreword from Newt to tie-in with the movie (660 words)

  • 6 new beasts to tie-in with the movie (1,734 words)

  • New illustrations (not from Rowling)

Things Removed:

  • Dumbledore's foreword (572 words)

  • Harry and Ron's doodles

  • JK Rowling's illustrations

Other minor changes:

  • The number of beasts mentioned in the intro has increased by six to match added contents.

    2001 Seventy-five species are described in the following pages,

    2017 Eighty-one species are described in the following pages,

  • The about the author has been moved to the back of the book.

  • The capitalization was tweaked in the MoM classification system blurb.

    The Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures gives classifications to all known beasts, beings, and spirits.

See also an article I wrote for TheRowlingLibrary, "What was changed in the new Fantastic Beasts book and what it means for canon".

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    As soon as I saw this question pop up I thought, "That's one for ibid to ace". Glad to see I'm not wrong.
    – The Dark Lord
    Commented Aug 9, 2017 at 20:49
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    :O Harry's and especially Ron's doodles and comments were my favorite part of the book
    – Justin
    Commented Aug 10, 2017 at 2:00
  • Is the new version supposed to have been published in 2017, though, in-universe? I mean, a book that takes 90 years to get to a third printing hardly qualifies as "the rest is publishing history". Isn't it more likely that the 2017 version is supposed to be an in-universe 1930's 3rd edition? To coincide with the new movies? In other words, the 52nd edition with Harry's doodles hasn't been replaced so much as it doesn't exist yet.
    – Martha
    Commented Aug 10, 2017 at 3:33
  • @Martha - Newt's intro specifically places it as after 2001, and also makes what appears to be a reference to the FB movies (or whatever the in-universe equivalent is) having just started to come out. Also, the fifty-second edition had less beasts than this one.
    – ibid
    Commented Aug 10, 2017 at 3:46
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The most significant differences are a new foreword by Newt and adding six new creatures.

The old version and the new version aren't that much different. The main differences are that a new longer foreword by Newt, referencing events from the movie, was added in, as well as adding six creatures native to America (the Thunderbird, the Horned Serpent, the Wampus, the Hidebehind, the Hodag, and the Snallygaster).

The other differences are far more minor.

Some of the other differences, like Harry and Ron's doodles being removed or small details being changed are far less important or significant.

Overall, if you have the old book, you don't need the new one unless you're a hardcore fan.

The really significant differences are the foreword and the new creatures, which together add up to 1390 new words worth of content, to give an idea on how much has really been added. However, in the new version 730 words of content were removed (Dumbledore's foreword and Ron and Harry's doodles). If this is the first time buying a Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them textbook, this may be information to keep in mind in order to choose the one with the extra content you'd prefer. All figures are sourced from the Rowling Library (from an article that was just pointed out to me was written by ibid from this website).

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    I'm not sure the removal of the doodles is minor :P As a kid it was the only part of the book that gave me any fun at all :P The rest of it sent me to sleep :P It was also originally for comic relief, it's supposed to be fun :P But anyway I'm just ranting, there's nothing actually wrong with your answer :P
    – Au101
    Commented Aug 9, 2017 at 21:10
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    @Au101 - Removing the doodles changes important canon things.
    – ibid
    Commented Aug 9, 2017 at 21:13
  • @Au101 I loved the doodles! :) That's one of the reasons I actually prefer the old version. :P
    – Obsidia
    Commented Aug 9, 2017 at 21:15
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    @ibid I wonder if any fan fictions have explored that obvious clue into Harry's love life? It's like the revisions are trying to erase Harry's emotional past!
    – BlackThorn
    Commented Aug 9, 2017 at 22:58
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    Somebody replaced @Au101's "." key with a ":P" key!
    – FreeMan
    Commented Aug 10, 2017 at 15:35

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