A copy of Paddington Bear’s first adventures – complete with hand-written notes by its creator Michael Bond – is expected to fetch around £9,000 at auction today.

The book, a first edition from 1958, will be sold off to raise money for Quentin Blake’s House of Illustration.

The charity, which runs a gallery dedicated to the art of illustration, opened in London this year.

Bond revealed he based Paddington’s battered hat and duffle coat on clothes he wore himself and the label around his neck was inspired by “memories of evacuees arriving in my home town of Reading during the war”.

He said the character’s success was down to the fact he did not intend to write a book, saying: “I think that turned out to be a plus, because it wasn’t aimed at any particular age group. There is something in it for everyone, and no writing down for children, which they hate anyway, so long as the meaning is clear within the text you can go wherever your fancy takes you.”

The book, estimated to be worth between £7,000 and £9,000, will be sold at the First Editions: Redrawn auction at Sotheby’s in London along with a first edition of Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory illustrated by Blake.

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