When We Were Very Young – A. A. Milne – First Edition, 1924 – E. H. Shepard

Author: A. A. Milne (Alan Alexander Milne)
Title: When We Were Very Young
Illustrator: Ernest H. Shepard
Publisher: Methuen & Co. Ltd., London
Date: 1924
Edition: First Edition
Format: Octavo
Pagination: xii, 100pp
Binding: Original Publisher’s Blue Cloth, Decorated and Lettered in Gilt
Page Edges: Top Edge Gilt
Endpapers: Plain
Issue Point: Contents Page Numbered ‘ix’, Traditionally Described as the Second State; No Priority Between the Two States Has Been Confirmed
Condition: Near Fine
Stock Number: 004212
Location: Bookroom

Description

A particularly attractive first edition of When We Were Very Young, A. A. Milne’s celebrated first collection of children’s verse, published by Methuen in 1924, with the original illustrations by Ernest H. Shepard.

This copy has the page number ‘ix’ printed at the foot of the contents page, the variant traditionally described in bibliographical and bookselling terminology as the second state. Copies are also known in which the contents page is unnumbered. Although these variants are conventionally referred to as first and second states, no firm priority between them has been established, and the distinction should therefore be regarded as a bibliographical variant rather than evidence of a demonstrably earlier or later issue.

The book is handsomely preserved in its original deep blue publisher’s cloth, richly decorated in gilt with E. H. Shepard’s figures to the upper and lower boards, gilt lettering to the spine and a gilt border to the upper board. The top edge is gilt and the original plain endpapers are present. The binding remains notably clean, bright and tight, with only very minor rubbing and creasing. The pages and Shepard illustrations are very nice and clean throughout. Published in November 1924, When We Were Very Young became an immediate success and inaugurated the remarkable sequence of four books created by Milne and Shepard that culminated in The House at Pooh Corner in 1928.

A very nice copy indeed of one of the defining books of twentieth-century British children’s literature.

1. A. Milne and the Beginning of the Pooh Books

Alan Alexander Milne (1882–1956) was already an established playwright, novelist, essayist and contributor to Punch before the publication of When We Were Very Young brought him enormous success as a writer for children.

The book began the celebrated partnership between Milne and Ernest H. Shepard, who would subsequently collaborate on Winnie-the-Pooh in 1926, Now We Are Six in 1927 and The House at Pooh Corner in 1928.

Much of Milne’s children’s writing drew upon the childhood of his son, Christopher Robin Milne, born in 1920. Christopher Robin appears repeatedly in the poems, sometimes by name and sometimes through scenes and experiences inspired by childhood games, nursery routines and family life. Milne’s distinctive achievement was to reproduce the imaginative logic of childhood without condescension. The poems are playful and immediately accessible, but beneath their apparent simplicity lies a sophisticated command of rhythm, repetition, humour and character. The extraordinary success of When We Were Very Young established both Milne and Shepard as central figures in British children’s publishing and created the readership from which the later Pooh books emerged.

The First Book in the Milne–Shepard Pooh Sequence

Although Winnie-the-Pooh would not appear as a complete prose work until 1926, When We Were Very Young is the first of the four major Milne–Shepard books associated with Christopher Robin and Pooh.

It is particularly important for the poem ‘Teddy Bear’, which features the bear who would develop into Winnie-the-Pooh. At this stage the character had not yet acquired the complete personality and fictional world familiar from the later stories, but the poem represents an important stage in the literary development of Pooh. Christopher Robin also appears throughout the volume, most famously in poems such as ‘Buckingham Palace’ and ‘Vespers’. The book therefore forms the true starting point of the sequence that would become one of the most enduring achievements of twentieth-century children’s literature.

The Poems

When We Were Very Young contains a substantial collection of poems exploring the rituals, fears, games, misunderstandings and imaginative adventures of childhood.

Among the best known are:

‘Buckingham Palace’
‘Happiness’
‘The King’s Breakfast’
‘Teddy Bear’
‘Disobedience’
‘The Dormouse and the Doctor’
‘Halfway Down’
‘Rice Pudding’
‘The Three Foxes’
‘Vespers’

Many of the poems became familiar well beyond the original volume. Milne had a remarkable ear for the patterns of children’s speech and for the comic possibilities created when the logic of childhood encounters the adult world. His verse combines strong rhythm and memorable repetition with a gently ironic understanding of both children and parents. The poems can therefore be read at more than one level: immediately entertaining to children, but also perceptive in their portrayal of childhood behaviour and family life.

‘Teddy Bear’ and the Origins of Winnie-the-Pooh

For collectors of the Pooh books, ‘Teddy Bear’ is of particular significance.

The poem concerns a teddy bear troubled by his stout appearance and wondering whether he ought to become thinner. The character would ultimately evolve into Winnie-the-Pooh, whose personality was developed fully in the 1926 prose volume. This connection makes When We Were Very Young considerably more important than an ordinary collection of children’s poetry. It records the formative stage of a literary character who would become internationally recognised. The book also represents the beginning of the creative partnership through which Milne’s writing and Shepard’s illustrations became inseparable in the public imagination.

Ernest H. Shepard and the Original Illustrations

Ernest Howard Shepard (1879–1976) was already an accomplished illustrator and cartoonist, particularly known for his work for Punch, when he began collaborating with Milne.

His illustrations for When We Were Very Young established the visual tone that would continue through all four of the Milne–Shepard books. Shepard’s drawings are characterised by an extraordinary economy of line. Gesture, expression and movement are conveyed with apparent simplicity, and his images frequently add humour or emotional nuance to Milne’s verse without overwhelming the text. His illustrations of Christopher Robin were central to the book’s identity, while his treatment of the bear in ‘Teddy Bear’ forms part of the visual prehistory of Winnie-the-Pooh. The publisher’s binding itself incorporates Shepard’s designs. Three gilt figures appear within the ruled gilt border to the upper board, while a further gilt illustration decorates the lower board.

The collaboration between A. A. Milne and E. H. Shepard which began with this volume became one of the defining partnerships in twentieth-century British illustrated children’s literature.

First Edition, First Impression and the Contents-Page Variant

The present copy is the first edition, first impression of When We Were Very Young, published by Methuen in 1924.

Two variants of the contents page are recorded:

• copies in which the contents page is unnumbered;
• copies in which the page number ‘ix’ is printed at the foot of the contents page.

These have traditionally been described in the book trade as the first and second states respectively.

The present copy has the printed ‘ix’ and therefore conforms to the variant conventionally described as the second state. Importantly, however, no confirmed priority between the two states has been established. The terminology should not therefore be interpreted as proving that the unnumbered form necessarily preceded the numbered form in publication or distribution.

For bibliographical accuracy, we describe this copy as:

First Edition, First Impression, with the Contents Page Numbered ‘ix’, Traditionally Described as the Second State; No Priority Confirmed.

This distinction is recorded transparently so that collectors can identify precisely which variant is present without overstating its chronological significance.

Condition

First Edition, First Impression, 1924. Octavo. Original publisher’s dark blue cloth, lettered and pictorially decorated in gilt. Top edge gilt. Plain endpapers. Contents page with printed page number ‘ix’, traditionally described as the second state, although no priority between the recorded states has been confirmed.

The binding is nice and tight and very clean and bright, with only very minor rubbing and creasing. The dark blue cloth retains excellent colour and the gilt lettering and decoration remain strong and attractive. The pages and Ernest H. Shepard illustrations are very nice and clean throughout. The printed ‘ix’ at the foot of the contents page identifies the bibliographical variant traditionally termed the second state. No chronological priority between this and the unnumbered variant is asserted.

The book is in near fine condition overall.

Now housed in an easily removable clear acetate cover.

A very nice copy indeed of the 1924 first edition, first impression of When We Were Very Young, the book which inaugurated the celebrated Milne and Shepard sequence and played a fundamental role in the development of Winnie-the-Pooh.

Stock Number: 004212

Location: Bookroom

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