A. A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh, signed limited edition, 1926. Peter Harrington Rare Books.

MILNE, A. A, Winnie-the-Pooh, with Decorations by Ernest H. Shepard. London: Methuen & Co. Ltd., 1926.

Presented by Pom Harrington, owner of Peter Harrington Rare Books.

Quarto (222 178 mm). Original vellum lettered in gilt on front cover. Preserved in a custom-made collector’s morocco slipcase and cloth chemise. Illustrated throughout by E. H. Shepard, folding map at end. Largely unopened, very minor spotting at top edge, still a fine copy.

Signed extra limited edition, number 14 of 20 copies on Japanese vellum signed by both author and illustrator. The first edition of Winnie-the-Pooh was first published in the UK in three issues: an extra limited issue of 20 vellum copies, a limited issue of 350 copies on large paper, and a regular trade issue. This is the first title to be issued in this luxurious and exclusive format: there was no equivalent issue of the first book in the series, When We Were Very Young (1924), as the enormity of its success had not been anticipated.