Before her, no one visualized the one who became one of the most famous characters in literature: the illustration of the cover of the very first edition of volume 1 of the saga Harry Potter is being auctioned, for nearly half a million dollars, this Wednesday, June 26, 2024, in New York.
In 1997, Thomas Taylor, a 23-year-old illustrator working in a children’s bookstore in Cambridge, UK, was “commissioned” to create a watercolor for the cover ofHarry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone) which was to be released on June 26 in 500 copies.
An unexpected success
Twenty-seven years later, after six other volumes, eight films, a play and a video game, the saga of British author JK Rowling has sold at least 500 million copies and has been translated into 80 languages!
However, Thomas Taylor was one of the first readers of the manuscript of volume 1, at the request of the modest publishing house Bloomsbury, explains to AFP Kalika Sands, specialist in old books at Sotheby’s, the large auction company of works of art which organizes the sale on June 26.
First performance of the Sorcerer’s Apprentice
“It is the first visual representation of the world of witchcraft fromHarry Potter “, with his round glasses, his scar on his forehead in the shape of a lightning bolt and his scarf, boarding the Hogwarts Express train, according to Ms. Sands.
Imagine that in 1997, JK Rowling and Thomas Taylor were complete unknowns and few people were willing to bet on the success of the former. Harry Potter, of which 300 copies were distributed to libraries. But over the months, word of mouth had made its legend…
A rising value
“It’s exciting to see the painting that marked the start of my career is still so luminous decades later,” said Thomas Taylor in a Sotheby’s press release, rejoicing that his “creation is now an iconic image » from the little wizard with glasses.
The illustration had already sold, in 2001, for 85,750 pounds, or approximately 108,500 dollars at the current exchange rate… And its price during today’s auction is estimated at 400,000 to 600,000 dollars!
Our “Harry Potter” file
Watercolor will be offered with old manuscripts and rare editions of the giants of British and American literature of the 19th and early 20th centuries: Arthur Conan Doyle, Charles Dickens, Francis Scott Fitzgerald and Edgar Allan Poe.
