The original watercolour illustration for the cover of the first edition of 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone' was sold for $1.9 million (about €1.77 million) at an auction in the United States on Wednesday.
The 1997 illustration, created by Thomas Taylor, depicts the young protagonist in front of the ‘Hogwarts Express,’ sporting his round glasses, red-and-yellow striped scarf, and prominent forehead scar.
Originally valued between $400,000 and $600,000, the artwork became the most expensive auctioned piece connected to the world of J.K. Rowling, according to an announcement by Sotheby’s.
At 23, Taylor, then an employee of a children’s bookshop in Cambridge, England, was one of the first people to read the book, after being commissioned to provide an illustration by the publisher of 'Harry Potter.'
The first edition was released on 26 June 1997 and was limited to 500 copies.
Since then, about 500 million Harry Potter books have been sold in 80 languages.
