Original ‘Winnie The Pooh’ Illustrated Map Sold For Record-Breaking US$567,000
An original map of ‘Hundred Acre Wood’—synonymous with Winnie the Pooh—has set a new world record in the category of illustrations for books through a recent auction.
Auction house Sotheby’s described the 1926 sketch, which sold for a whopping £430,000 (US$566,770), as likely being the “most famous map in children’s literature.”
The map—created by book illustrator EH Shepard—details the world of ‘Winnie the Pooh’ and captures the unique personalities of each of author Alan Alexander Milne’s beloved characters.
‘Eeyore’ is shown with his head in the grass while ‘Roo’ bounces to the “sandy pit.” ‘Winnie the Pooh’ looks out towards the woods, where ‘Christopher Robin’ resides on the other end. A compass is also seen on the top left corner of the map—its points detailed with the letters from the title character’s name.
The map was inspired by Ashdown Forest in East Sussex, near the Cotchford Farm that Milne bought in 1925, prior to writing about the famous bear. The map, which has been featured in Sotheby’s English Literature, Science, and History to name a few, recently surfaced for the first time after 50 years.
Experts had initially estimated a sale of between £100,000 (US$131,807) and £150,000 (US$197,710) for the map, but global attention drummed up sentiments and increased its value three-fold, finalizing it at £430,000 (US$566,770). This new record supersedes the previous record of £314,000 (US$413,865), set in 2014 for EH Shepard’s game ‘Poohsticks’ from the Milne book The House at Pooh Corner.
Dr Philip W Errington, Director of the Department of Printed Books and Manuscripts at Sotheby’s, explained that the map displays the skills of the artist. The strokes of Shepard’s pen can never be replicated and the visual guide to the world of Winnie the Pooh further raises its value.
The map was originally from the initial pages of the original 1926 book, and introduces the wonderful characters of Winnie the Pooh. The map, together with four other original illustrations that have not been seen for almost 50 years, fetched a total of £917,500 (US$1,209,305) at the auction.
You can see the close-up version of the illustration on Sotheby’s website.
#AuctionRecord: The original drawing of Winnie-the-Pooh’s Hundred Acre Wood sells for £430,000 to set new record for any book illustration sold at auction. #SothebysBooks pic.twitter.com/ppHAIAp2qY
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) July 10, 2018
[via Independent, opening image via Disney]