Beschreibung:

Winnie-the-Pooh, and Friends.
an original watercolor drawing, apparently an unpublished alternative title-page design to “the christopher robin book of verse.” Sussex, England: n.d. [but 1967 or earlier]. Original pencil, pen, ink and watercolor on Windsor & Newton “Whatman Board” (visible image area: 6 1/8 x 10 inches, 154 x 255 mm). Inscribed on the verso by Shepard: “Ernest H. Shepard/ Woodmancote/ Lodsworth/ Petworth/ Sussex”, with “title page - p2” in another hand on the concealed margin of the recto. Matted, framed and glazed. Provenance: Archives of E. P. Dutton & Company, Inc. a wonderful full-color example of the work of e. h. shepard and featuring one of the best known characters from children’s literature. Dutton’s published A.A. Milne’s The Christopher Robin Book of Verse in New York in 1967. It included selected poems from When We Were Very Young and Now We Are Six with illustrations in both color and black and white. The colored illustrations are particularly important as they were apparently drawn by Shepard especially for the... Book of Verse (the dust-jacket speaks of the “new illustrations in full color”). All the main elements in the present finished watercolor are also featured in the illustrations in the book, and given the note “title page - p.2”, and the provenance, it seems likely that this is an unpublished image that was altnernative design for the double-page title opening. [WITH:] Milne, A. A. The Christopher Robin Book of Verse. New York: E. P. Dutton & Company, Inc., 1967. 4to (10 x 7 inches; 252 x 195 mm). Double-page title opening printed in blue and black with colored vignettes, numerous vignette illustrations in color and black and white. Original yellow cloth, blocked in brown and blue on upper cover, titled in brown on spine, dust-jacket. first edition, second(?) printing.