Thomas Taylor’s original watercolor illustration for the cover of the first edition of “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” has set a new record, selling for $1.9 million at a Sotheby’s auction. Four bidders, both on the phone and online, pursued the illustration for nearly 10 minutes before it sold to applause.
Highest Pre-Sale Estimate for Harry Potter Art
The pre-sale estimate for the artwork was set between $400,000 and $600,000, marking the highest pre-sale estimate ever placed on a Harry Potter-related item. The illustration was part of the sale of The Library of Dr. Rodney P. Swantko, a significant collection of 19th and 20th-century English and American literature, which achieved a total of $6 million, exceeding its $5.8 million high estimate.
This is not the first time the illustration has set a record at auction. When first offered at Sotheby’s London in 2001, it was estimated to fetch between £20,000 and £25,000—the highest estimate placed on any Harry Potter-related material at the time. The illustration ultimately realized a record-breaking £85,750.
Taylor’s First Professional Commission
At just 23 years old, Taylor’s first professional commission was to create the cover art for the then-unknown novel by an unpublished author, J.K. Rowling. His iconic depiction of Harry Potter, complete with dark hair, round glasses, and a lightning bolt scar, has become the “universal image” of the character and has been used by most major international publishers for translated versions of the book, though not the American edition.
Despite the global success of the Harry Potter series, which has sold over 500 million copies worldwide and been translated into 80 languages, Taylor never purchased a copy of the first edition. He was working in a bookshop when the book became a major seller, and his colleagues would excitedly inform customers that their local bookseller was the illustrator of the new sensation.
The record-breaking sale of Taylor’s original cover art testifies to the enduring popularity and cultural significance of the Harry Potter franchise and the lasting impact of the artist’s first-ever visualization of the beloved character.
The original watercolor painting that was later used as the cover art for the first ever #HarryPotter book shattered a franchise memorabilia record when it sold at Sotheby’s auction house in New York for $1.9 million.#Forbes
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