Thomas Taylor and Sotheby's
Some years ago, I came across a blog post about me in which I was described as a missing person. It was chilling to find myself discussed as a mysterious and vanished figure – someone who had done one notable thing and then dissolved into obscurity. It left me wondering if I had taken playing down my connection to the world of Harry Potter a little too far. But, in case you are still wondering what that connection is, I, Thomas Taylor, did the cover art for Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling.
No, it’s true for all the titles. And yes, different artists provided the artwork for the U.S. and for many editions around the world, but most people with an interest in the Wizarding World created by J.K. Rowling will recognize this picture.
Of course, one book cover does not a career make, though, with this particular book cover, it can sometimes be hard to persuade people of that. The fact is, this image has long been something for me to live down as much as it is something to be proud of, and the idea that it might be the crowning glory of my working life (hinted at by some, even now) is not appealing. How can it be when it was my first ever professional commission?
This was way back in 1996. I’d left art school a year earlier and was working at Heffer’s Children’s Bookshop in Cambridge (U.K.), paying the bills (kind of) and finding out about the children’s book market. I had no agent at the time and few contacts, but being surrounded by kid’s books every day made it easy to decide where I should send samples of my work. I noticed that Bloomsbury Publishing was creating a children’s list at the time, so I went to London and left my portfolio with them. They must have seen something they liked because they gave me a book jacket to do.
People often ask why I wasn’t paralyzed with the pressure of producing the cover art for one of the most famous books in the world. But these people forget that at the time J.K. Rowling was as unknown as I was.
Naturally, I was quite excited. My first illustration job – Yay! I expect I bought some new pens to celebrate and maybe a moderately-priced bottle of Belgian beer. There was an incomplete manuscript to read, roughs to do, and then the painting. The final image took two days, and all things considered, I was quite pleased with it. I think I delivered it by hand.
This was the only Harry Potter cover I did. Quite understandably, once the books took off — and considering that the stories progress in age through Harry’s school career — Bloomsbury turned to more experienced illustrators with a track record of art for this age range. By then, I was working on my first picture books anyway. So, I don’t have any great regrets about the briefness of my very brief involvement with HP.
Sotheby's
Except, hold on – I do have one regret.
As everyone knows, very few first-edition hardbacks were published. I think the figure usually given is 450. Well, partly because of my connection with the book, we had ten of those hardbacks in the Children’s Bookshop. Ten! And do you know how many I bought? None.
Yes, you read correctly. I didn’t buy a single copy of what would go on to be a highly valuable collector’s edition. (A first edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone sold for a record $471,000 in 2021.) The reason is simple: Bloomsbury was going to send me a signed copy and so I waited for that. Remember, there was no reason to think that this was anything other than just another children’s book, and hardbacks are pretty pricey for artists just starting out.
I was able to leave the bookshop by the end of the century, a fully-fledged picture book illustrator. I have no way of telling how many doors were opened for me as a result of my small connection with HP or how many slammed shut; I don’t think about it. I admired the author at the time for giving 9 to 12-year-olds precisely what they needed: a bit of enchantment and a refuge from pressure, anxiety, and homework. These days, I aspire to conjure the same enchantment with my own writing.
To learn more about Thomas Taylor, go to www.thomastaylor-author.com
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