The Philosopher's Stone was a fabled substance once thought to be real by alchemists. It was believed to have healing and immortality-granting properties and turn any metal into gold. While the mythical substance was not real, the original cover art of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone's cover is worth its weight in gold. The cover art was sold after a heated ten-minute bidding war between four interested buyers, going for an eyewatering US$1.92 million against a low estimate of US$400,000.
The work is the original watercolor cover art for the first-ever Harry Potter book, published in 1997. Drawn and painted by British illustrator and author Thomas Taylor, the work will go down as the single most expensive Harry Potter-related item sold at auction. It crushes the previous record, which was a first edition of the same book sold by Heritage Auctions for US$421,000 in 2021.
The lot had previously been sold by Sotheby's London in 2001 for £85,750, thus the work has seen an appreciation in value roughly 17 times since it was last sold over two decades ago. Both prices, however, far exceeded the mere £500 that Thomas Taylor was paid in 1997 to draw the cover.
Lot 37⏐Thomas Taylor [Artist] (b. 1973)⏐The original cover art for Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, pencil and watercolor on a sheet of watercolor paper
Created in 1997
Dimensions: 40.1 x 28.2 cm
Signed and Dated by Thomas Taylor on the verso, captioned and signed again on the accompanying cover sheet
Provenance (consolidated by The Value):
- Sotheby’s London, 10 July 2001 (£85,750)
- The library of Dr. Rodney P. Swantko
Estimate: US$400,000 - 600,000
Hammer Number: US$1,600,000
Sold Number: US$1,920,000
Auction House: Sotheby’s New York
Sale: The Library of Dr. Rodney P. Swantko
Date: 26 June 2024
This work was Thomas Taylor’s first-ever professional commission. He was fresh out of art school, working in a bookshop, when Bloomsbury hired him to draw the cover. When interviewed by the New York Times about the sale, Taylor said, “It’s exciting to see it fought over.” When he originally won the commission to create the cover, Taylor was ecstatic, buying himself some new pencils and a beer. Taylor described this auction three decades later as “staggering,” with his work surging to such heights.
Taylor had visited the Bloomsbury office and dropped off some drawings of dragons he had done, as a sample of his work. A week later Bloomsbury publisher Barry Cunningham called him saying he'd seen Tyalor's samples and if he'd be interested in doing the cover for an as-yet-unknown author.
Given just a copy with some notes and revisions made by Bloomsbury, Taylor was tasked with bringing the vision and essence of the book to life. The cover that he created would cement not just the tone of the book, but also the face of Harry Potter himself. Before this, only a few rough sketches of the “boy who lived” existed. Thus, this face was Taylor's creation, visualizing the trademark dark hair, round glasses, and lightning bolt scar, that Rowling only had written about.
Taylor never met or contacted J.K. Rowling about the cover. All the communication about the cover was done via Cunningham. One of the few instructions that Taylor would receive was that it had to show Harry Potter boarding Hogwarts Express at the iconic 9 3/4 platform. One of the original drafts (shown below) only showed Harry's back.
An early Thomas Taylor sketch for the cover of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
After about two days of work, and creating various drafts, he finalized the published version. When the book got a movie release, he decided to sell the original cover art, this current lot, thinking that it would probably rise in value and that he’d accidentally end up spilling coffee on it if he held onto the artwork. As for the other drafts, he would throw them out, not realizing the potential value they would have as the series gained success.
Surprisingly the Cambridge bookshop where Taylor worked ended up purchasing 10 copies of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone but none of the staff including Taylor purchased a copy. As for Taylor's reasoning for not buying a copy, he was told that Bloomsbury would send him a signed copy; however, it's unknown if they ever followed through.
The unprecedented runaway success of Harry Potter meant that the rookie Thomas Taylor, still a newcomer to the industry, was replaced by the more experienced book illustrator Cliff Wright (b. 1963) for the rest of the series.
Thomas Taylor the artist behind Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone cover
This sale marks the latest in a long line of strong performances by the Harry Potter franchise at auction. It was also the second Harry Potter-related item sold by Sotheby’s this summer. Just recently, one of the original 500 hardback copies of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was sold by Sotheby’s for just under US$139,000, nearly tripling its initial low estimate.
Such sales have displayed the longevity of this brand as it has continued to evolve and progress over the last three decades, specifically since the first book. Copies of the Philosopher's Stone have sold more than 120 million copies worldwide, up from the mere 500 copies first printed back in 1997.
J.K. Rowling (b. 1965)⏐Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone - one of only 500 copies of the first hardback issue⏐Sold by Sotheby’s New York for around US$108,000, 2024