Tag: Europe

In postal delivery centers all around the world, hundreds of small parcels marked “not to be delivered before 21 July” are being heavily guarded. The content of each package is the same: the latest novel recounting the adventures of Harry Potter.

On 21 July 2007, millions of copies of the seventh and final Harry Potter novel will go on sale in bookshops and other outlets. And for those who have already placed their order by mail, phone or Internet, it is often the postman who will deliver this long-awaited book.

In the United States, for example, USPS delivered 1.8 million books on Saturday, while in the United Kingdom Royal Mail delivered 600,000 copies; in other words, by the British operator’s reckoning, one UK household in 43 will receive the book by post. Canada Post distributed 80 000 copies. Swiss Post and France’s La Poste made also special deliveries on 21 July. Operators are pulling out all the stops to ensure that the millions of books were delivered on time.

From 2004 to 2005, the global number of ordinary parcels sent domestically and internationally rose by 11 pct, for a total of 6 billion parcels delivered annually representing 16 millions per day. It’s unusual for so many identical articles to be delivered within such a short space of time, and some postal operators have looked for innovative delivery solutions. For example, Deutsche Post, the German operator, and Swiss Post delivered the book to impatient readers shortly after midnight in 2005 (and also in 2003 in Germany).