Books

A two-page AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED (ALS) on both sides of 5-1/2" x 7-3/8" personal stationery to "My dear Sir" [Vincent Seligman]. Written just weeks before the publication of Milne's most famous work, WINNIE-THE-POOH. This fine letter offers insight into Milne's sharp sense of humor and includes indirect references to his most famous book. Milne refers to a person in his letter as a "cygnet" (a young swan), a reference which may have been in mind as Winnie The Pooh was a blended name created by Milne, being a combination of the name "Pooh," after a cygnet swan they met on holiday, and "Winnie," a black bear cub he often saw at the London Zoo. There is also a lighthearted poke at his publisher, Methuen. In part: "I have arrived safely at the house to which you sent me, and think that I shall like the situation. I wanted to begin a serial story for the DAILY MAIL at once, but the man here said 'No, there's a letter we must write first,' and I said 'Oh, I see,' and began writing 'Dear Methuen,' but he snatched me away from the paper, and said it wasn't that sort of letter at all, which disappointed me rather because I thought I had got a literary situation. But he promised me we should do some poetry afterwards, and I said 'All right.' And of course when he began 'Dear Vincent,' I said 'Oh, know that man well; let me write the letter, while you get the ink off your hands.' He was terribly pleased with me, and I'm to keep on saying 'Thank you' until I run out of ink. But I really am to say 'Thank you very much. Assuring you, Sir, of my respects, and again thanking you for obtaining me this literary situation which I have always wanted from a cygnet so to speak. Yours faithfull [sic] The Pen. P.S. It was his fault about the ink, not mine. T.P. P.P.P. Now we are going to practise his signature: A. A. Milne. P.P.P.S. He says that's the best he's ever done." A delightful letter. Vincent Seligman was a banker who ran the London bank Seligman Brothers. He and his wife Barbara were close friends of the Milnes. Seligman dedicated his book, OXFORD ODDITIES, to Milne. Crease from mailing otherwise Fine.

Winnie-the-Pooh, also called Pooh Bear, is a fictional anthropomorphic teddy bear created by English author A.A. Milne. The first collection of stories about the character was the book 'Winnie-the-Pooh' (1926), and this was followed by 'The House at Pooh Corner' (1928). Milne also included a poem about the bear in the children's verse book 'When We Were Very Young' (1924) and many more in 'Now We Are Six' (1927). All four volumes were illustrated by E.H. Shepard.