NEW YORK: The original watercolor illustration created by Thomas Taylor for J.K. Rowling’s 1997 debut novel, “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone,” has set a new auction record, fetching $1.9 million at Sotheby’s in New York. Reuters reports that this sale marks the highest price ever paid for a Harry Potter-related item at auction.
The bidding for the iconic artwork, depicting Harry Potter with his distinctive features of round glasses and lightning bolt scar, was fiercely contested by four bidders over nearly ten minutes before finally selling to applause.
Thomas Taylor, who was 23 years old at the time and working at a children’s bookstore in Cambridge, England, painted the illustration after being approached by Barry Cunningham at Bloomsbury to create the book’s image. Taylor, one of the first to read Rowling’s manuscript, initially expected the painting to fetch between $400,000 and $600,000, according to Sotheby’s books specialist Kalika Sands.
Read More: Meera tasks journalists with arranging her marriage
The artwork, used for numerous translated editions of the novel but notably not for the US release titled “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” has seen its value soar. When first auctioned at Sotheby’s in London in 2001, it fetched approximately four times its estimated price, setting a record of £85,750 (about $106,000). Previously, the highest amount paid for a related item was $421,000 for an unsigned first edition of “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” at Heritage Auctions in Dallas, Texas, in 2021.
Taylor completed the original cover in just two days while working at the bookshop, where his colleagues proudly informed customers of his role as the illustrator of the bestselling novel. The illustration was part of Sotheby’s auction of English and American Literature on Wednesday in New York, where it drew significant attention and marked a historic moment in literary memorabilia sales.
