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Monday, April 19, 1999 Published at 15:23 GMT 16:23 UK

Entertainment

Pooh originals sold

The original Winnie The Pooh: Kept in a New York museum

A set of six original pencil drawings of Winnie the Pooh by the artist EH Shepard have been sold for Ł24,150 at a London auction house.

The pictures appeared when the book Winnie the Pooh was first published in 1926, and were used to illustrate the episode, 'In which Piglet is entirely surrounded by water'.

The previous owner of the drawings inherited them from her grandmother.

More recent editions of the book now only include five of the six drawings, increasing the value of the original set.

A spokeswoman for Phillips auction house said: "It's a very good price for these drawings to fetch."

[ image: Pooh today (courtesy Walt Disney)]
Pooh today (courtesy Walt Disney)
Shepard was an illustrator for Punch magazine for 50 years, though he remains best known for his Pooh illustrations.

The set depicts Christopher Robin as well as Pooh Bear, Piglet, and Eeyore the donkey.

Pooh author AA Milne used his young son Christopher Robin as one of the central characters in the story. Winnie was based on a real life bear who was once a mascot for a Canadian Army regiment. The toys that inspired the stories are now stored in a library in New York.

Milne said of the artist: "When I am gone, let Shepard decorate my tomb and put, if there is room, two pictures on the stone, Piglet from page a hundred and eleven, and Pooh and Piglet walking (157), and Peter thinking they are my own will welcome me to heaven."