Beginning in 2015 the Harry Potter books will be republished “fully illustrated”.
2015 will give us Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Sorcerer’s Stone in the U.S.) and an additional book will be released on a yearly basis until all seven are completed.
No word yet on if these editions will reach the United States or other parts of the world and with Scholastic’s recent re-release of the books with new covers it’s up in the air if they’ll be interested in releasing another edition so soon.
Rowling selected Jim Kay to complete the illustrations and released a couple of images to tease us. They look fantastic and I can only hope I’ll be able to get my hands on them once they’re released.
The term fully illustrated is a little loose and there is currently no specification on what exactly that means. One illustration per chapter? An illustration every few pages? It’s hard to say but I hope it’s the latter, the more the better.
I love what I’ve seen of Kay’s work, the two released images are wonderful and his other unlrelated work is fantastic. I can’t wait to see what happens. The movies are great, but limited by the medium. I’d be interested in seeing some visuals for things that couldn’t make it to the screen and a more intimate and different interpretation is of course welcome.
Jim Kay had this to say, “To design the characters, the clothing, the architecture and landscapes to possibly the most expansive fantasy world in children’s literature, well let’s just say I’m extremely excited about it. However, I am also mindful of the huge responsibility this represents. I want to make sure I do the best job I possibly can.”
You can see a few more of his works below, to get a taste of his style. His gallery is also available at his site.
