Home / Arts and Entertainment / Lost Pooh Letters Fetch £95,000 at Auction
Lost Pooh Letters Fetch £95,000 at Auction
19 Oct
Summary
- Unseen A.A. Milne letters and illustrations sold for £95,000.
- Archived documents remained hidden in a publisher's private papers.
- Letters revealed Milne's playful defense of Pooh's character.
In January 2025, a remarkable archive of previously unseen letters, manuscripts, and illustrations by A.A. Milne, the creator of Winnie-the-Pooh, achieved £95,000 at auction. These documents had been privately held for decades before their discovery.
Simon Smith found the collection while sorting through his late father's possessions. His father, Leslie Smith, had inherited papers from Frederick Muller, a publisher associated with Milne's original publisher, Methuen & Co. The archive includes first drafts, sketches for "The Christopher Robin Birthday Book," and corrected proofs for "Now We Are Six" and "The House at Pooh Corner."
A significant item was a letter dated March 28, 1928, where Milne humorously defended his famous bear, "Pooh protests strongly against being called a 'fabulous monster' in today's Observer." Other correspondence revealed discussions between Milne and illustrator E.H. Shepard regarding illustrations. Postcards from J.R.R. Tolkien and letters from Enid Blyton were also part of this historically rich find.
The collection was divided into 34 lots by Fieldings Auctioneers. While the total hammer price was £95,000, the final amount including buyer's premium reached £120,000. Buyers from both the United Kingdom and the United States acquired the lots, with approximately two-thirds remaining in the UK. Smith expressed satisfaction with the outcome, noting it exceeded expectations.
