Books

London: Methuen, 1926. First edition. Near fine in near fine jacket.. Signed limited large paper copy, one of only 350 numbered copies signed by Milne and Shepard, of the first book of Pooh prose stories. In Milne's first book of children's verse, WHEN WE WERE VERY YOUNG (1924), the silly old bear appears in only a couple poems and does not yet have a name. After that book's smashing success, Milne was encouraged by his wife to write down some of the bedtime stories he made up for his son about his favorite toys. Here we get many of the best loved stories from the Hundred Acre Wood: Piglet meets a Heffalump, Eeyore has a birthday, and Pooh runs out of honey. This is a beautiful copy of the deluxe signed edition. 8.75'' x 7''. Original quarter blue cloth, light blue paper boards. In original blue printed dust jacket. Illustrated by Shepard in black and white throughout; folding map at rear. Printed on handmade paper. xvi, 158, [2] pages. Signed by Milne and Shepard on limitation…

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.

The true first editions of 'Winnie-the-Pooh' were published by Methuen & Co. Ltd in London in 1926. They are characterized by a green cloth cover with gold gilt decorations and would not have a dust jacket. The book has the publisher's name on the spine and title page. Later editions may differ in terms of cover, imprint, and illustrations. True first editions can also be identified by errors on page ix, which list the second chapter as 'Chapter II. In which Pooh Goes Visiting and Gets into a Tight Place' – whereas it was eventually titled '…and Gets into a Tight Place'.