The "very first appearance in print" of the first book in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series was bought for less than a dollar more than a quarter-century ago. This week, it was sold in an auction ...

The Harry Potter book was among the piles – maybe even by accident – as all the rest were Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, Ngaio Marsh, etc., as far as I remember.

A U.K. first-print hardcover copy of the book "Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone" is also on the auction block for $60,000.

A version of this article appears in print on June 28, 2024, Section B, Page 3 of the New York edition with the headline: Original Cover Art for ‘Harry Potter’ Fetches $1.92 Million at Auction.