維尼熊插畫和《哈利·波特》贈閱本將拍賣

Pooh Illustrations to Be Auctioned

維尼熊插畫和《哈利·波特》贈閱本將拍賣

How many honey pots could a silly old bear fill if he had 100,000 British pounds, or roughly $159,000? That’s the low estimate for an original illustration from A. A. Milne’s 1928 book “The House at Pooh Corner” to be sold at Sotheby’s London next month. The drawing, signed by the artist E. H. Shepard, depicts Winnie-the-Pooh playing a game of “Poohsticks” on a bridge with Christopher Robin and Piglet. It has been part of a private collection since 1975, according to the Sotheby’s London sale catalog. The illustration is expected to fetch £100,000 to £150,000, or about $159,000 to $238,000, and is one of several drawings by Shepard that the auction house will feature at its “English Literature, History, Children’s Books and Illustration” sale on Dec. 9. Other items include drawings by Beatrix Potter and Edmund Dulac, a copy of “Peter Pan” signed by J. M. Barrie, and presentation copies of uncorrected “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” proofs signed by J. K. Rowling. Pooh has proved to be a lucrative draw at previous auctions. In November 2008, an original Shepard sketch of Pooh and friends sold for about $50,100 at a Bonham’s auction. A month later, the Stanley J. Seeger and Christopher Cone collection of Shepard’s original drawings for the Winnie-the-Pooh books brought in about $1.97 million at a Sotheby’s London auction.

如果一只笨笨的老熊有了十萬英鎊(約合15.9萬美元)，這能裝滿多少個蜜罐?這筆錢是A·A·米爾恩(A. A. Milne)1928年《小熊維尼的房子》(The House at Pooh Corner)中原始插畫的最低估價。下個月，這幅插畫將在倫敦的蘇富比拍賣行拍賣。畫上有藝術家E·H·謝潑德(E. H. Shepard)的簽名，描繪的是小熊維尼、克里斯托弗·羅賓(Christopher Robin)和小豬皮杰(Piglet)在一座橋上玩“丟棍子”(Poohsticks)游戲。根據(jù)這次蘇富比倫敦拍賣會的目錄，這幅畫從1975年起成為私人藏品，預計能賣到十萬至15萬英鎊(約合15.9萬美元至23.8萬美元)。這次“英國文學、歷史、童書和插畫拍賣會”將于12月9日舉行，謝潑德的另外幾幅素描也將參加。其他拍賣作品包括貝婭特麗克絲·波特(Beatrix Potter)和埃德蒙·迪拉克(Edmund Dulac)的素描，一本有J·M·巴里(J. M. Barrie)簽名的《彼得·潘》(Peter Pan)，有J·K·羅琳(J. K. Rowling)簽名的《哈利波特與密室》(Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets)未修正校稿贈閱本。在之前的幾次拍賣會上，小熊維尼已被證明是利潤豐厚的拍賣品。2008年11月，謝潑德繪制的維尼熊和朋友們的素描原作在博納姆拍賣公司(Bonham)的一次拍賣會上賣出了5.01萬美元。一個月后，斯坦利·J·西格(Stanley J. Seeger)和克里斯托弗·科恩(Christopher Cone)收藏的謝潑德的《小熊維尼》系列圖書原始插畫在蘇富比的一次倫敦拍賣會上賣出了約197萬美元。