LONDON (Reuters) - The original map of the Hundred Acre Wood from the Winnie-the-Pooh children’s stories is set to go under the hammer, with an estimate price tag of up to $200,000. 
 
 The ink sketch drawn by E.H. Shepard in 1926 lays out the much-loved fictional world created by A.A. Milne, depicting characters Winnie-the-Pooh, Christopher Robin, Piglet and Eeyore. 
 
 “It’s such a valuable piece because it’s such an obvious entry into the world of Winnie-the-Pooh,” Philip Errington, book and illustrations senior specialist at auction house Sotheby’s, said. 
 
 “It’s there as you open the book of the first edition, it’s there on the end papers. It’s also there in the Disney cartoon,” he added, referring to the 1966 “Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree” film. 
 
 The map, with an estimate of 100,000 - 150,000 pounds ($133,260 - $200,000), will be auctioned at the English Literature, History, Science, Children’s Books and Illustrations sale in July. 
 
 Four other Winnie-the-Pooh illustrations by Shepard are also being offered, including one of Christopher Robin and Pooh walking to say goodbye, as in Milne’s ending in “The House at Pooh Corner”. 
 
 Slideshow (2 Images) ||||| Image copyright Sotheby's Image caption The map is expected to sell for between £100,000 and £150,000 when it is sold on 10 July 
 
 The original illustrated map of The Hundred Acre Wood, which featured in the opening pages of A.A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh, is to be auctioned. 
 
 Described by Sotheby's Dr Philip Errington as "probably the most famous map in English literature", it will go on sale with four other illustrations. 
 
 The E.H. Shepard images have not been seen in public for nearly 50 years. 
 
 They are estimated to fetch between £310,000 and £440,000 when they go on sale at the auction house in July. 
 
 Image copyright Getty Images Image caption E.H. Shepard created illustrations for A.A. Milne's two books Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner 
 
 The map illustration was first sold by Sotheby's in 1968, where it fetched £650, before the auction house sold it again to a private collector two years later for £1,700. 
 
 One of the other illustrations shows Christopher Robin and Pooh saying their goodbyes, while the others feature Eeyore, Rabbit and a game of Pooh sticks. 
 
 The map, which also features in the Disney film released in 1966, is expected to sell for £100,000 to £150,000, according to the auction house. 
 
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 The auction comes amid an increased interest in illustrations from collectors, according to Sotheby's senior specialist Dr Errington 
 
 "They've never been brought out in the UK or the US with illustrations by anyone else apart from EH Shepard and that is the power, and ability of the illustrator, and why this is probably the most famous map in English literature," Dr Errington said. 
 
 A.A. Milne was born in Hampstead, London, in 1882. 
 
 He had a string of hit plays and edited magazines before creating the Pooh books in the 1920s while he lived in Ashdown Forest, near Hartfield in East Sussex. 
 
 Shepard and A.A. Milne worked together on four books - Winnie-the-Pooh (1926), The House at Pooh Corner (1928), a poem about the bear in verse book When We Were Very Young (1924) and Now We Are Six (1927). 
 
 'Christopher Robin', a new film based on Milne's characters, is due to be released by Disney in August.
– Sotheby's is prepping for a children's books and illustrations auction in July, and at the top of the list is what one expert calls "probably the most famous map in English literature." That, per the BBC, would be EH Shepard's original ink sketch of the Hundred Acre Wood from AA Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh, published in 1926. The map—which shows the fictional woodland, as well as depictions of Pooh, Christopher Robin, Eeyore, and Piglet—is expected to fetch up to $200,000. "It's such a valuable piece because it's such an obvious entry into the world of Winnie-the-Pooh," Sotheby's Philip Errington, a senior specialist at the auction house, tells Reuters. Four other Shepard illustrations, which haven't been viewed by the public in nearly a half-century, will also be up for grabs.