LONDON — The original, hand-drawn map of the Hundred Acre Woods from “Winnie-the-Pooh” sold at auction for a record price of $571,000 (430,000 pounds) on Tuesday.
E.H. Shepard's drawing, at Sotheby's in London, sold for almost three times its estimate at presale -- setting the record price for a book illustration, the BBC reports.
The 1926 drawing, described by Sotheby's as "probably the most famous map in English literature," depicts the woodland world of AA Milne's "Winnie-the-Pooh," Sky News reports.
It features Pooh, Christopher Robin and other beloved characters from the series, along with iconic stopping points in the Hundred Acre Wood, like the “Bee Tree” and “Eeyore’s Gloomy Place.”
The map also shows “Piglet’s House” and the location of “Pooh’s trap for Heffalumps.”
The illustration is thought to be the work of Milne's son, Christopher Robin, according to the BBC.
It is signed off with the words, “Drawn by me and Mr Shepard helpd (sic).”
Several other “Winnie-the-Pooh” sketches were sold with the map, including a drawing from the book “The House at Pooh Corner,” in which Pooh and Christopher Robin said their final goodbye.
Shepard’s famous illustrations helped bring Milne’s “bear of very little brain” and his friends to life for children across the world.
In 2014, an ink drawing of the characters playing the game “poohsticks” sold for a then-record 314,500 pounds -- nearly $42,000.
Cox Media Group
