An illustration used for the first part of Harry Potter was auctioned in New York on Wednesday for almost $2 million. Four interested parties engaged in a bidding war over the telephone that lasted almost ten minutes.
Ultimately, the illustration was sold for 1.9 million dollars (about 1.8 million euros), according to auction house Sotheby’s. It is said to be the most expensive Harry Potter souvenir ever auctioned.
The auction house had previously expected a maximum of 600,000 dollars (about 560,000 euros). Thomas Taylor’s illustration was featured on the cover of the English first edition of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, the first book in the popular fantasy series.
The novel by author JK Rowling, which was published in English in 1997, tells about the young Harry Potter, who learns his magical powers and is admitted to the magical school of Hogwarts. There he has to experience many adventures with his friends.
The watercolor illustration being auctioned in New York shows him wearing glasses and a scarf standing in front of the Hogwarts Express, a train that in the novel departs from platform 9¾ of London’s King’s Cross station.
Source: Krone
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