Harry Potter became a global phenomenon when it released in 1997. J.K. Rowling’s first book Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, or Sorcerer’s Stone in the US, introduced audiences to the magical world of Hogwarts, setting the stage for six more books, seven blockbuster films and a passionate following that persists in every corner of the world today.
Sotheby’s will soon auction off the original watercolor cover artwork for the first book. Created by British children’s book author illustrator Thomas Taylor, the image depicts a young Harry curiously waiting to board the Hogwarts Express for his first year at the School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
This will be the second time the artwork will hit auction — the first at Sotheby’s London in 2001, which sold for $106,000 USD, four times its estimate — and now “more than 20 years later,” wrote a release by Sotheby’s, “the original illustration returns to auction poised to not only far exceed the value it previously sold, but also to potentially set a new auction record for any Harry Potter related item.”
Taylor’s cover art is expected to fetch around $600,000 USD when it hits Sotheby’s New York auction on June 26.
