A magical, record-breaking sale of a "Harry Potter" item is set to grace Sotheby's New York this coming June 26. The item? Thomas Taylor's original watercolor drawing of the blockbuster series' first installment: "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" (1997).
Poised to break the highest pricing record for "Potter" memorabilia, the lot bears a high estimate of $600,000. The original artwork served as the book's cover for over 120 million copies sold, sales of which placed the series among the world's bestselling books.
Since then, with a cavalcade of sequels and adaptations, the "Harry Potter" books have collectively sold more than 500 million copies, a colossal milestone that could be joined by the potentially record-breaking sale of the artwork.
About the Original 'Harry Potter' Cover Artwork
This particular piece already sold for $107,000 at Sotheby's London in 2001, tripling its high estimate of about $31,000 and setting a record-high for any Potter-related sale at the time.
That said, today, the number to beat is $421,000, which was achieved by the sale of an unsigned first edition of the "Philosopher's Stone" book at Heritage Auctions in Dallas in 2021.
The drawing itself depicts the titular character with all his iconic characteristics like the lightning-shaped scar, striped scarf, and the unmistakable Hogwarts Express train on platform 9¾.
It is part of the late oral surgeon Rodney P. Swantko's collection, which comprises other pieces that will be sold in the upcoming auction including those by Charles Dickens, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Edgar Allan Poe.
In a press release by Sotheby's, Taylor said of the work: "It is exciting to see the painting that marks the very start of my career, decades later and as bright as ever!"
"It takes me back to the experience of reading Harry Potter for the first time -- one of the first people in the world to do so -- and the process of creating what is now an iconic image," he continued. "As I write and illustrate my own stories today, I am proud to look back on such magical beginnings."
