Original Winnie The Pooh Map Sold: Sotheby's say new auction record set for book illustration

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The original map of Winnie-the-Pooh's Hundred Acre Wood has sold for a record-breaking 430,000 pounds at auction. Drawn by illustrator E.H. Shepard in 1926, the famous piece has been in private hands - and out of the public eye - for almost 50 years.

It's the famed image found on the opening pages of the first-ever Winnie-the-Pooh book, published over 90 years ago.

Illustrator E.H. Shepard's map of Hundred Acre Wood, the fictional land inhabited by Winnie-the-Pooh and his friends.

For many, it was the first introduction to A.A. Milne's beloved characters, including Eeyore and Piglet.

PHILIP ERRINGTON, SENIOR SPECIALIST DEPARTMENT OF MANUSCRIPTS & PRINTED BOOKS, SOTHEBY'S "This piece is incredibly exciting because it's your entry into the Hundred Acre Wood. This is the first thing you see when you open the book, this map is on the end papers. Before you've read a word of the book, this is the visual guide, this is your opening to the world of Winnie-the-Pooh."

Errington says Shepard sold his original Pooh illustrations in the 20s.

The map was last auctioned in 1970. Since then, it's been in private hands and out of the public eye for almost 50 years.

Sotheby's estimated Shepard's map would fetch between 100,000 and 150,000 British pounds, but when it went under the hammer it fetched 430,000 pounds.

Sotherby's say it is a new auction record for a book illustration.

The map was sold alongside four other original Winnie-the-Pooh illustrations by Shepard.