London: Methuen & Co. Ltd., 1924, 1926, 1927, 1928. First editions. A Very Good set of first printing Pooh books, each rebound in morocco over cloth boards, preserving the original cloth from the books. Each volume also retaining the front end papers. A Very Good set overall, with each book showing some minor finger soiling or staining to the leaves. Preserved in a custom slipcase.

A set of children's classics treasured the world over, the Pooh Books' "sweet, oft-befuddled bear actually evolved out of A. A. Milne's unquiet time on the Western Front during WWI. Injured at the First Battle of Somme in 1916, his time in the trenches left Milne with 'shell shock' (what we now call PTSD). The following year, he uprooted his family, moving from London to the quieter country retreat of Crotchford Farm. Milne and his only child, Christopher Robin...spent countless hours exploring the woodlands of the Ashdown Forest, often accompanied by his son's stuffed animal collection" (Smithsonian Magazine). From these periods of pain and healing came a series of books about friendship and kindness that continue shaping people's lives from childhood through adulthood. And while film and television produced by Disney have across the decades re-shaped some of the stories and images of "that silly old bear" and his friends, the originals still endure. Very Good (Item #8284)