The first-edition original watercolour illustration for "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone," which introduced the world to the young bespectacled wizard, will be auctioned in New York on Wednesday.
The painting, created by Thomas Taylor when he was 23, features the iconic image of the young boy with the lightning bolt scar and round glasses. It is expected to sell for an estimated Rs 3-5 crore at Sotheby's.
Thomas Taylor, who worked at a children's bookstore in Cambridge, England, was chosen by publisher Barry Cunningham at Bloomsbury to create the image for JK Rowling's book, which was set to be released in London on June 26, 1997.
According to Kalika Sands, a Sotheby's books specialist, Taylor was one of the first individuals to read the book and was given an early copy of the manuscript to aid in his artwork.
Rowling and Taylor were unknown when the book was released, and few expected it to become a global phenomenon. According to Sotheby's, only 500 copies of the first edition were printed, and 300 of them were sent to libraries.
But the book soon became a runaway bestseller.
Twenty-seven years later, Rowling's "Potterverse" includes her original seven books, a successful film series, a well-received stage production, and video games.
The books have collectively sold over 500 million copies in 80 different languages.
When the illustration was first auctioned at Sotheby's in London in 2001, it sold for approximately Rs 90 lakh, but this was before all seven books had been published.
This particular illustration is part of a collection that includes manuscripts and rare book editions by other renowned authors such as Edgar Allan Poe, F Scott Fitzgerald, Mark Twain, and Charles Dickens, among others.
Follow us
