LONDON.- Sotheby's presents debut author Madeleine Hall - creator of Burlington Bear, the dapper little resident of No.1 Piccadilly. With a knack for getting his paws into sticky mischief, Burlington is a bear apt to go awry… Perhaps you have seen Burlington, taking tea – for he is a Most Civilised bear – at Crumpets of Curzon Street? Or sporting his signature waistcoat (red with white spots) on a visit to Twistie’s of Bond Street? Burlington – the little local, and most lovable character – would like to extend a friendly paw this July, and to propose some exciting adventures…

Along with his friends Marmaduke, Mooey and Darling – a portly Scottie Dog, a Friesian Cow, and an Ostrich - Burlington comes to life through the pen of Madeleine Hall, of Sotheby’s Old Master Paintings Department. Exquisitely hand illustrated by the author, and with a delightfully arch sense of humour, this brand new series charts the somewhat haphazard – and even a little bumbling – exploits of the quintessential bear. Follow Burlington from Mayfair to the City to the Scottish Highlands and back to meet the Queen. Suitable for age four to eight, the books are written to pique the curiosity of the explorative young reader, and open up a highly individual world of words.

Madeleine Hall comments “As a child, my parents often read a bedtime story to me, and it is with this in mind that I created Burlington – I was passionate about discovering a way to bring parents and children together as readers, where parents are engaged in drawing out their child’s vocabulary and awakening their curiosity for language.”

Burlington Visits Twistie’s and Burlington Goes to the Bank of England are now available from selected retailers, to include Daunt Books, Hatchards, Belgravia Books, Foyles; and from Sotheby’s New Bond Street. Burlington’s Highland Adventures, Burlington Meets the Queen and the series box set are published from October 2012. Books are priced at £5.99 and at £24.99 for the box set.

Sotheby’s Henry Wyndham will be auctioning a number of limited edition illustrations at the Burlington Bear launch, at Sotheby’s New Bond Street in September. All auction proceeds will go to Kids Company, which supports – across emotional, educational and therapeutic categories - vulnerable inner city children.

Burlington Visits Twistie’s
On a grey, wet, April day, not very long ago, the rain tapped against the window pane at Number one Piccadilly…’ and Burlington spies an advertisement for, no less, an auction of Bear Miniature Portraits at Twistie’s of Bond Street! Summoning his trusty friend Marmaduke, he rushes off to the auction, where things get rather out of hand, and Burlington finds he has brought a £100 picture by mistake…

Burlington Goes to the Bank of England
Down to his last pennies after buying a bear portrait at Twistie’s by mistake, the time has come for Burlington to get a job. Fortified on carrot cake, and with a copy of The Financial Bear, Burlington sets off in a bowler hat to count gold bars at the Bank of England. But the little bear’s soon in a pickle (again), and his Hedge Fund Manager brother, Grenville Bear, has to step in to sort things out…

Madeleine Hall grew up in Buckinghamshire in the company of her favourite bear, Burlington. Now working in the Old Master Paintings Department at Sotheby’s, she has crafted Burlington from the very idiosyncratic character and charm of surrounding Mayfair and St. James’s.