You can get your hands on the world's first movie poster - for a hefty price

The world's first movie poster is up for grabs at auction for a groundbreaking slapstick film that only lasted 45 seconds

The first real public narrative movie screening took place in Paris in 1895, featuring the Lumière brothers' comedy short L'Arroseur Arrosé (The Waterer Watered).

With illustration by prolific ad artist Marcellin Auzolle, the poster - which could fetch £81k - depicts an enthusiastic audience enjoying this particular movie and what was then a startling new kind of entertainment.

45-second-long 'L'Arroseur Arrosé' is a slapstick scene showing a young boy standing on a hosepipe and then removing their foot to soak an adult gardener.

It is described as the earliest known instance of film comedy, the first use of film to portray a fictional story, and having the first use of a promotional film poster.

The program at the Salon Indien in the basement of the Grand Café in Paris on December 28, 1895, featured ten short films, projected at a scale of around 6.5×9 feet.

Dallas-based Heritage Auctions have compared the lot to a rare item such as Issue #1 of the Superman comic book.

They explain that it is being offered by Parisian poster collector Dominique Besson.

Mr Besson comments: "This poster is one of the first I bought over 40 years ago and is therefore from my personal collection.

"It was folded in the archives of a person whose grandfather had worked with the Lumière brothers.

"As you could see, it had remained folded since the origin, nearly 130 years."

The item comes with an estimate of £41,000 - £81,000 ( $50,000 - $100,000) and will be auctioned from September 30 - October 1.