Winnie The Pooh by A. A. Milne, Illustrated by E. H. Shephard, First Edition, 1926 with A. A. Milne Cut Signature

Milne, A. A. Winnie the Pooh. London: Methuen & Co., (1926). First edition, first printing. Illustrated by E. H. Shepard. In the publisher's original gilt-stamped green cloth boards, with top edge gilt, pictorial pastedowns and endpapers. New archival ¼ leather and cloth clamshell, inlaid with A. A. Milne’s cut signature inside. 

Presented is a first edition, first printing of A. A. Milne’s iconic children’s book, Winnie the Pooh. This book was published by Methuen & Co. in October of 1926. It is presented here in the publisher’s original gilt-stamped green cloth boards, with the top edge gilt, pictorial pastedowns and endpapers, and filled with E. H. Shepard’s charming illustrations. The book is now protected in a custom, archival green ¼ leather and cloth clamshell, made even more collectible with the addition of A. A. Milne’s cut signature, held in the interior of the clamshell case. A desirable first edition, first printing, with Milne’s signature makes this a lovely and desirable presentation! 

A. A. Milne (1882–1956) and Ernest H. Shepard (1879–1976) were the author and illustrator of the Winnie the Pooh books. Before Pooh, Alan Alexander Milne had a thriving career as a humorist and playwright. In 1904, shortly after graduating from Cambridge, he published his first piece in Punch, and by 1906 was an assistant editor. His plays and novels, including the popular detective story The Red House Mystery, were enormously successful. Ernest Howard Shepard showed aptitude for drawing from an early age. While attending the Royal Academy Schools he began submitting illustrations to magazines, and this gradually became his primary occupation. In 1906 Punch accepted his drawings for the first time, and he became a regular contributor by 1914.

In 1924, A. A. Milne had written a series of children’s verses for Punch and Shepard was suggested as the illustrator. The artist’s drawings had an instant appeal, and the verses and illustrations were published the same year in book form as When We Were Very Young. When We Were Very Young is the first and the scarcest of the four Pooh books with an initial print run of 5,175 regular trade copies. It was first published in London on November 6, 1924 to immense acclaim, and the first printing sold out in one day. By the end of the year more than 53,000 copies had been printed of what The Times called "the greatest children's book since Alice" (Thwaite, p. 286).

After the huge success of When We Were Very Young, Milne was asked to contribute a story to the London Evening News. "The Wrong Sort of Bees", published on Christmas Eve in 1925, was based on a bedtime story that Milne had told his son Christopher. It starred Christopher's stuffed bear, which had made his first public appearance in the poem "Teddy Bear," published in Punch in 1924 and later in When We Were Very Young. The original toy was a top-of-the-range Alpha Farnell stuffed animal purchased at Harrods for Christopher Milne's first birthday. The stuffed animal was known initially as Edward or Edward Bear, then later rechristened as Winnie-the-Pooh, after a favorite bear cub at the London zoo.

Winnie-the-Pooh was first published in London on October 14, 1926 in an edition of 30,000 regular trade copies. The book was an immediate success and garnered even more enthusiastic reviews than its predecessor, with one critic writing, "When the real Christopher Robin is a little old man, children will find him waiting for them. It is the child's book of the season that seems certain to stay" (Thwaite p. 317).

Now We Are Six (1927), another collection of verses, and The House at Pooh Corner (1928), the final collection of Pooh stories, rounded out the iconic and now very collectible series. 

CONDITION: 

First edition,  First printing. Bound in the publisher's original gilt-stamped green cloth, with top edge gilt, pictorial pastedowns and endpapers. Boards in very good condition, with only  rubbing to head and foot of spine, back corners still square. Internally, the book is very clean and bright. A neat gift inscription dated 1926 is written on the front blank endleaf, no bookplate. Illustrated by E. H. Shepard throughout. Original illustrated map endpapers. The front endpapers have uneven toning; the back endpapers very bright and clean.

Presented with a custom, archival green ¼ leather and cloth clamshell, with raised bands, gilt tooling, and gilt titles to the spine. Front of the clamshell is gilt-stamped with a Winnie the Pooh illustration. The interior of the clamshell holds A. A. Milne’s cut signature, protected under new mylar. 

Book Dimensions: 7 3/4" H x 5 1/4" W x 5/8" D. Clamshell Dimensions: 8 7/8" H x 6 1/4" W x 1 3/8" D.

Fountain pen signature, reads "A. A. Milne," on an off-white 1 1/2” H x 3 ¼” W piece cut from the reverse of a bank check. Cut signature is in fine condition, with scattered light staining.

Accompanied by the company's letter of authenticity.