December 18, 2008 Sotheby's - London, New Bond Street A collection of E. H. Shepard's original drawings for the Winnie the Pooh children's books fetched £1.26m at auction. The top lot, "He went on tracking, and Piglet... ran after him", one of Shepherd's best-known drawings, went for £115,250, a record for the artist (Ernest Howard Shepard, 1879-1976). The illustration, showing Pooh walking with Piglet by his side, leaving a trail of footprints behind them, sold for far more than its pre-sale estimate of between 40,000 and 60,000 pounds. Another drawing, "Bump, bump, bump - going up the stairs", sold for £97,250, almost double its lower estimate. The auction also included limited edition and signed books by author AA Milne, and the first US edition presentation copy of Winnie-the-Pooh, dated 1926, which sold for £39,650 against an estimate of 15,000-20,000 pounds. Philip Errington, Sotheby's specialist in charge of children's books and original illustrations, said he was "delighted" with the sale results. ...read more... View Sotheby's Catalog with Sale Results: 'That sort of Bear': E. H. Shepard's Winnie-the-Pooh From the Collections of Stanley J Seeger and Christopher Cone "Take care of your antiques and they will take care of you."
