Comprising: 'When We Were Very Young'; 'Winnie the Pooh'; 'Now We Are Six'; 'The House at Pooh Corner'.
A Complete Set of Winnie the Pooh Books Comprising: 'When We Were Very Young'; 'Winnie the Pooh'; 'Now We Are Six'; 'The House at Pooh Corner'.
Methuen, 1924.
Four volumes. 8vo. All first editions, finely bound for Asprey (c.1975) in contrasting full morocco with raised bands to spine and vignettes to covers and spine compartments. Gilt ruled borders, edges and turn-ins. Marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. Illustrated throughout in line by E.H. Shepard. A near fine set, with slightly faded spines and a light stain to the back cover of the first volume. Overall, a handsome set, lavishly bound, housed custom cloth slipcase.
Inspired by stories made up to tell to his son, Christopher Robin Milne, the 'Winnie the Pooh Books' quickly established themselves amongst the cornerstones of children's literature. Having been asked to provide some space fillers for Punch, these semi-fictitious accounts of his son's doings were transformed into verse and augmented and printed under the running title When We Were Very Young. After a few appearances, the verses were expanded to fill a full page and an illustrator, Punch's political cartoonist, E.H. Shepard was found. When Milne had what he felt to be enough verses to fill a small book, he approached his publisher, Methuen, who agreed with a reticence shown by the publication of only 5175 copies of the first edition. Success was instant and by the end of the year 43,000 copies of the book had been sold.
Despite this success, it was his second book, a continuation but this time in prose, and the introduction of the eponymous character, Winnie the Pooh (who appeared in essence in When We Were Very Young, but under the title of Edward Bear), which guaranteed Milne's immortality as a children's author. The tales of Pooh, Piglet and friends have been produced in 25 languages and sold some 70 million copes since first publication, a figure that is still increasing at a rate of 500,000 copies a year.
Stock ID: 33423
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