The original book cover illustration for the first edition of J.K. Rowling’s 1997 novel, “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone,” sold for a stunning $1,920,000 at Sotheby’s June 26, crushing presale estimates to become the highest amount paid for a Harry-Potter related item.
A then unknown artist, Thomas Taylor, just 23 and a year removed from art school, was paid $650 by Bloomsbury Publishing to create the watercolor painting for the first edition. Presale estimates for the artwork were between $400,000 to $600,000, according to Sotheby’s.
Image courtesy of Sotheby's
The original artwork, which depicts the young wizard Harry going to Hogwarts from Platform 9¾ at King’s Cross station, was part of the private library of an American book collector and surgeon, Dr. Rodney P. Swantko. The book was an instant hit. In 1998, it landed in American bookstores as “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” with a cover illustrated by another artist. In Britain, Bloomsbury moved on to more experienced illustrators, so Taylor’s drawing was his only contribution to the series.
Image courtesy of Thomas Taylor and Sotheby's
Fortunately, he later negotiated a larger fee for the artwork, which was used for multiple overseas editions of the novel, Taylor told The New York Times. In 2001, when the book’s film adaptation was being released, he decided to sell the illustration for about $100,000 at auction.
“I did make quite a lot of money in the end,” Taylor told The Times, adding he was not upset that he missed out on the $1.92 million for which his drawing was sold more than 20 years later. “I’m just happy that I sold it when I did.”
Courtesy Heritage Auctions
The previous record for a Harry Potter-related item was held by an unsigned first edition of “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone,” which sold for $471,000 at Heritage Auctions in 2021. A chair that Rowling sat on while writing the first two Harry Potter books sold for nearly $400,000 in 2016.
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