The first ever watercolor book cover of the first installment of the Harry Potter series, “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone”, has been sold at an auction for a surprising record breaking $1.9 million.

Sotheby’s a fine artwork company confirmed in a statement that the item became ‘the most valuable Harry Potter item ever sold at auction,’ and that the acquisition of the artwork was between four bidders.

The work created by Thomas Taylor in 1997, when he was only 23-years old, was expected to be sold in the region of $400,000 – $600,000. Those expectations were however shattered with the piece ultimately being sold for a staggering $1.9 million.

This is not the first time that Taylor’s artwork was sold at an auction as in 2001, when only 4 books of the series were published, the work was sold for $108,500 a far cry from the insane $1.9 million it garnered in 2024.

#MaltaDaily