An Original Peanuts Comic Strip Can Be Yours—for $30,000

An original Peanuts comic strip by famed cartoonist Charles Schulz could sell for as much as $30,000 at auction, according to estimates from Swann Auction Galleries. The New York City-based auction house will be selling this rare, signed comic strip at its Illustration Art sale on June 5.

The comic strip, which features characters Schroeder, Lucy, and Frieda, was originally published in 1970. Prior to the auction house acquiring the illustration, Schulz gave it to conductor Maurice Peress, who used it in a visual exhibition that accompanied the Kansas City Philharmonic's 1978 Beethoven Festival.

Diehard Peanuts fans will want to pay close attention to the ninth panel, which contains Schulz's signature. It's also inscribed with a message at the top reading, "Bill—Please save this one for me—Sparky." It's unclear who Bill might be, but Sparky was Schulz's nickname.

Two other Peanuts comic strips will also be up for grabs. A three-panel strip featuring Snoopy is expected to sell for as much as $12,000, while a longer strip showing Charlie Brown playing baseball as Snoopy begs for food could go for $25,000.

Other highlights of the auction include works by illustrator Edward Gorey, an original Russell H. Tandy cover illustration for a Nancy Drew novel, and various cover designs for New Yorker magazine.