It was dubbed “the most valuable Harry Potter item ever sold at auction” by auctioneer Sotheby’s.
After over ten minutes of back-and-forth bidding, the buyer who wishes to remain anonymous emerged victorious.
When it was last sold, in 2001, there had only been four Potter books published, and the sale price was £85,750.
The estimated price range for Thomas Taylor’s photograph at Wednesday’s auction was $400,000–$600,000 (£320,420–£480,630).
Taylor completed the artwork in two days after receiving a request from Bloomsbury publisher Barry Cunningham when he was just 23 years old.
He drew the image using black Karisma pencil and utilized intense watercolors.
It features Harry and his lightning bolt scar next to the Hogwarts Express and is now recognizable to millions of people.
Taylor was one of the first people to read J.K. Rowling’s draft for The Philosopher’s Stone. She would go on to author the children’s series Erie-on-Sea.
The first edition of the book sold for $421,000 (£327,000) at a Dallas auction in 2021 was surpassed by the £1.5 million sale.
A worn-out first copy of The Philosopher’s Stone, which was once purchased for 30p from the library, sold for more than £10,000.
