Books

London: Methuen, 1928. First editions. Overall fine in near-fine jackets.. Complete set of first editions of the Pooh Books, all in original dust jackets, with WHEN WE WERE VERY YOUNG signed by Milne and Shepard. In 1933 Compton Mackenzie described the publication of the first Pooh Book, WHEN WE WERE VERY YOUNG as marking "an epoch as positively as any children's book has ever marked one. It is not extravagant to surmise that a distant posterity may find in that volume of children's verse a key with which to unlock the present more easily than with any contemporary novel, poem, or play" (quoted in Thwaite). The series is an evocative reflection of English childhood in the 1920s, yet transcends the time and place of its making for each new generation to discover – and fall for. As the first book in the series, WHEN WE WERE VERY YOUNG is the most difficult to find signed, making this an especially desirable set. 4 volumes, 7.5'' x 5'' each. Original blue, green, red and pink…

When We Were Very Young is a best-selling book of poetry by A. A. Milne. It is the first volume of verse written for children, for which Milne is most widely known. The book is filled with verses that reflect a playful innocence that has been enjoyed by both young and adult readers.

To determine if a copy of 'When We Were Very Young' is a first edition, look for the publisher Methuen & Co. Ltd. on the title page, the absence of a dust jacket, as these were not always issued with the book, and whether it states 'First Edition' or 'First Published in 1924' with no subsequent printings mentioned.