The original illustrated manuscripts for the production of The Christopher Robin Birthday Book. Comprising,1. Original manuscript maquette: four sheets of drawing paper, folded and sewn together with cotton thread to form a 16pp booklet, with drawings and lettering in ink on six pages, providing a diagrammatic guide: [1] Half title. Stylised writing with a little sketch of Christopher Robin. [2] Blank. [3] Title page. Stylized lettering with quote from Winnie the Pooh, surrounding a sketch of lambs gambolling around a tree. [4] Verse (How cold my / TOES - tiddely-pom...) in stylized lettering to face: [5] Section title page for January with larger sketch of Winnie the Pooh and Piglet walking in the snow. [6-7] A specimen spread of text each page split into two days with the date and a quote and a single sketch drawing on each page, each page numbered with a decorative border. [8-16] Blank.2. A.A.Milne's autograph manuscript of his introduction to the book: two pages, closely written (approx. 450 words), mainly clean with occasional corrections.3. Two states of the printed proofs of the initial pages of the book, the design drawn from the maquette, the first with the publisher's date stamp (11 Jul 1930), an 8pp booklet, uncut and without staples and containing mostly different illustrations to the ones in the maquette (and the ones in the final publication), contains several pencil annotations, possibly by Shepard, indicating a change of font or size of the lettering. The second state is also 8pp, but trimmed and stapled and shows some of the corrections indicated in the previous state but has further pencil annotation, indicating further changes to the lettering on the title page, which was eventually incorporated into the published version. All in very good condition with the maquette and primary proof, a little dusty and finger-marked.

An exceptional collection of documents, showing the creative process for one of the most popular works to be published as a spin off from Milne and Shepard's immeasurably successful Winnie the Pooh books.
This work draws on the text and illustrations used in the Pooh books, so that very little additional material is required, besides Milne's introduction, which begins by quoting Eeyore, "'What are birthdays? Here today and gone tomorrow.' Do let us make a note of them while we can." He continues in characteristic whimsy before finishing with the book's main attractions, "If you buy this book at all... it can only be because you are friendly with the four books from which I have taken the mottoes. If that is so, then you can amuse yourself (when you've got absolutely nothing to do) by trying to guess from which chapter or verse of a book each quotation comes. With some you will have no difficulty; others will baffle you for a long time even if you start looking through the books carefully for them."
The collection also shows the design evolution for the book. Although the drawings in the maquette are Shepard's and capture the natural movement of his work, we believe it to be the work of A.E.Taylor, a freelance illustrator and cartographer, who did work for Methuen as a book and lettering designer. The original design positions the illustrations and the lettering. The first proof sets the lettering in a standard font and changes the illustration on the title page to one of Pooh and Piglet sitting on a fence and also changes all the other illustrations. The second proof, changes the lettering of 'January' to a fancy font and changes the size of the fonts as indicated by the pencil annotations. However, the final published version reverts to the illustrations from the original design for the main title page and January section page, though retaining the proof's illustrations for the for the first spread of text. The published version also sees a change to font of the publisher's name on the title page, to match the font used for the January section page, but not what was indicated on the original maquette.

PROVENANCE: Frederick Muller (Milne's publisher at Methuen); Leslie Smith (who inherited the running of Muller's publishing company); by family descent.

Stock ID: 45977