The upcoming auction at Sotheby’s New York will feature Thomas Taylor’s original watercolor drawing for the first installment of the Harry Potter series, “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” (1997). With a high estimate of $600,000, this iconic image served as the cover for a book that achieved extraordinary success, selling over 120 million copies worldwide and being translated into approximately 85 languages.
This drawing marks the inception of a cultural phenomenon, as the Harry Potter series went on to spawn a succession of sequels, collectively selling an astonishing 500 million copies. It remains one of the bestselling book series of all time, captivating audiences across generations with its magical narrative and richly imagined world.
The same artwork previously sold at Sotheby’s London in 2001, commanding £85,750 (approximately $107,000 at today’s exchange rate) against a high estimate of £25,000 (approximately $31,000), setting a record for any Potter-related material at the time. However, the current record for any item related to the series stands at $421,000, achieved at Heritage Auctions in Dallas in 2021 for an unsigned first edition of “Philosopher’s Stone.”
Thomas Taylor’s captivating drawing, which captures iconic elements like the lightning-shaped scar and the Hogwarts Express train on platform 9¾, is part of the collection of oral surgeon Rodney P. Swantko, who passed away in 2022. Among the other notable pieces in this sale are works by literary giants such as Charles Dickens, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Edgar Allan Poe.
