Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne, Illustrated by Ernest H. Shepard, First Edition, in Original Boards, 1926

Milne, A. A. Winnie the Pooh. London: Methuen & Co., (1926). First edition. Illustrated by E. H. Shepard. Octavo. In the publisher's original green cloth boards, front stamped and bordered in gilt, spine titled in gilt. Pictorial map endpapers and in-text illustrations throughout. 

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 green cloth boards, front board stamped and bordered in gilt, with gilt titles to the spine, and filled with E. H. Shepard’s charming illustrations. 

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. Artist 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: 

Very good condition. First edition. Octavo. Bound in the publisher's original green cloth, front board stamped and bordered in gilt, with gilt titles to the spine. Boards intact with corners lightly bumped, bumping and creasing to the head and foot of spine. Toning to illustrated map endpapers. Internally, the book is very clean and bright, with occasional small smudges or light stains in paper margins. Some pages splitting from board at bottom of page, visible in a few places internally. Illustrated by E. H. Shepard throughout. 

Dimensions: 7 7/8" H x 5 1/4" W x 11/16" D.

Accompanied by our company's letter of authenticity.