An EH Shepard illustration showing Winnie the Pooh and Cristopher Robin playing Pooh Sticks has sold for £314,500 ($492,727) at Sotheby's.

The lot, titled For a Long Time They Looked at the River Beneath Them, headlined the English Literature sale in London on December 9 - achieving a 109.6% increase on a £150,000 ($235,005) estimate.

EH Shepard illustrated the Winnie the Pooh series

It set a new record for an illustration from a book at auction.

The iconic drawing first appears in AA Milne's first collection of stories starring the titular bear, The House at Pooh Corner (1928).

Text accompanying the image reads: "For a long time they looked at the river beneath them, saying nothing, and the river said nothing too, for it felt very quiet and peaceful on this summer afternoon."

The much-loved series of books have an international following, with the result that manuscripts and illustrations sell very well at auction.

A further three Shepard illustrations in the sale sold for sums considerably above their estimates.

We have this incredible satirical cartoon drawn by EH Shepard for Punch Magazine, click here to check it out.

An autograph manuscript of poems by Dylan Thomas also sold well, realising £104,500 ($163,720)

The lot contains early drafts of some of his most famous works.

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