Harry Potter cover art sells for $1.9 million

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’s original illustration cover was sold for a record-breaking $1.9 million making headlines across the internet.

The illustration was specifically made for Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’s first edition by JK Rowling. Moreover, according to CNN, it took only 10 minutes for it to be sold in New York at the Sotheby auction house on Wednesday, Jun. 26, 2024.

Harry Potter cover art sells for $1.9 million

Author and illustrator Thomas Taylor is behind the iconic watercolor illustration which features young Potter in front of the iconic Hogwarts Express train which departs from platform 9 and 3/4. People from the United States might not recognize it was not used for the US editions of the book, as claimed by Sotheby’s.

Fun fact: The USA version was titled as, “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” instead of “The Philosopher’s Stone.”

Sotheby’s added that Harry Potter books witnessed several auctions in the past including an unsigned first edition of “The Philosopher’s Stone,” which sold for $421,000 in Dallas Texas in 2021. Moreover, in London, in 2001 the illustration in question sold for $106,000 but was unsigned.

Taylor was just 23 years old when he painted the illustration and created it in just two days. Additionally, he was working at a bookstore and his coworkers always boasted to customers that he was behind the illustration of the iconic book.