A.A. Milne
MILNE, A. A. Winnie-the-Pooh.
London: Methuen & Co. Ltd., 1926. First edition, first impression. Illustrated throughout by E. H. Shepard.
The first appearance in book form of Winnie-the-Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore, Owl and the Hundred Acre Wood - characters created by Milne from the toys of his son Christopher Robin and given their enduring visual identity by Shepard.
The volume contains ten stories, beginning with Pooh’s celebrated attempt to obtain honey from the bees and continuing through encounters with Rabbit, Piglet, Eeyore, Heffalumps and Christopher Robin. Shepard’s famous map of the Hundred Acre Wood appears at the front, alongside his original line illustrations throughout.
Finely bound in full dark green morocco, the upper board centred with a gilt vignette of Christopher Robin and Rabbit after Shepard, surrounded by an elaborate gilt ornamental border with corner decoration. The spine has raised bands, gilt titles and richly tooled compartments, with the date 1926 at the foot. Marbled endpapers complete the binding.
The first-impression text retains the original Methuen title page, publication statement and Shepard illustrations.
