Getty Image / Angela Weiss / AFP
A new record for has been set for any ‘Harry Potter‘ related item sold at auction after cover art for the original book was sold for a record-setting $1.92 million.
The story behind the cover art for the Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone book is pretty wild. It was done by artist Thomas Taylor who was a 23-year-old recent graduate from art school and looking to kickstart his career.
Bloomsbury Publishing approached him about doing the cover art for an unpublished author, J.K. Rowling, who had been rejected from 12 other publishers before Bloomsbury took a look at Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Upon agreeing to do the cover art, Thomas Taylor got to be one of the earliest people to rid the first book that would go on to sell 120 MILLION copies.
For his work on the original Harry Potter cover art that just sold for a record-setting $1.92 million at auction, Thomas Taylor was paid only $750 or $800, according to CLLCT.
But they point out that he cashed in to a certain degree back in 2001 when he is believed to have sold the cover art for around $100,000. At the time, he believed the cover art on the books would soon be replaced with art from the movies. This is common practice in the publishing industry when books hit the silver screen.
Prior to this $1.92 million Harry Potter cover art selling at auction, the previous record for a single ‘Potter’ related item sold at auction was a first-edition copy of the book which sold for $471,000 back in 2021.
Taylor told CLLCT he used to keep the artwork in an envelope under his bed and that “Normally, illustrators are keen to forget their very earliest work, but that’s not possible in my case.” He says he never knew the buyer when he first auctioned it off back in 2001 so it’s been exciting to see it resurface years later.
This is an interesting time for all things related to Harry Potter. HBO just found its Director and Showrunner for an upcoming Harry Potter TV series which has been in the works for years.