A.A. Milne (1882-1956)
Set of the four Pooh books, comprising: When We Were Very Young. 1924. [With:] Winnie-the-Pooh. 1926. [And:] Now We Are Six. 1927. [And:] The House at Pooh Corner. 1928. Decorations by Ernest H. Shepard. London. Methuen & Co., 1924-1928.
Together 4 volumes, octavo. Half-titles. Illustrated by Ernest H. Shepard, publisher’s one-leaf advert for Milne’s works loosely inserted in When We Were Very Young. Original blue, green, red and salmon cloth respectively, pictorially stamped in gilt, plain endpapers in the first title, pictorial endpapers in the rest (some light browning to endpapers, minor wear at extremities of When We Were Very Young); pictorial dust jackets to all but When We Were Very Young (minor abrasion to upper panel and faint stain to foot of spine panel of Winnie-the-Pooh, a few light marks). Provenance: Sotheby’s, New York, 18 June 1987, lot 128.

Complete set of the Pooh books, all first editions, first impressions, signed by the author on the title of Now We Are Six and accompanied by an autograph letter stating that he shall not be writing any more Christopher Robin books as the character is ‘getting too old now’. Second state of the first impression of When We Were Very Young with the page number ix present in the preliminaries.

[With:] Autograph letter signed (‘A. A. Milne’) to ‘Martin’, London, 19 June 1930. One page, 190 x 139mm.