Winnie the Pooh's map and dream fetch £100k

Classic children's books can be exceptionally valuable, as the sale of Beatrix Potter first editions recently shows. However, even the illustrations can be valuable if they are part of what makes the books the classics they are.

Winnie the Pooh is certainly a much loved children's classic, as is seen regularly at auction - for example when memorabilia associated with the books and Christopher Robin Milne tripled its estimate.

The sale of two lots at Sotheby's (in the same sale that Ted Hughes's letters went under the hammer) show the love people have for E H Shepard's illustrations.

Winnie the Pooh Map
Winnie the Pooh map
(Click to enlarge)

The first is a beautiful ink-and-colour-pencil map of Pooh's living area, including his and others' dwellings and Hundred Acre Wood (or 'Aker' as it is in Pooh-style spelling) reached the top of its expected price range of £30,000-50,000 to be taken away by a happy bidder for £49,250.

Winnie the Pooh Heffalump
Winnie the Pooh dreams of a Horrible Heffalump
(Click to enlarge)

The second is a pair of drawings of Pooh and Piglet's nightmares of a dreaded Horrible Heffalump. These are simple ink drawings, but they are thought to be the only two such drawings of 'heffalumps' Shepard ever created.

As such, the two beat even the map to sell for an impressive £55,250 - a powerful reminder of the strength of nostalgia books can create.

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