(If you haven't seen the introductory material at the "parent" page of this page, please read it at some point.)
For something fancier than the trade binding, but below the stratosphere, you have several choices...
You might consider collecting instances of the lovely limp leather binding. (There are two with limp leather. The first...
One has a simple single illustration on the front board. And it has gorgeously decorated ornate spine. I am calling this binding the "one/ornate" (or even 1/o!) binding... for "one illustration, ornate spine. We will come to a different binding in limp leather later, which I am calling the "five/plain" binding.
Two more things to keep in mind: At least the "one/ornate" (see below) volumes were originally sold in a cardboard box, with a glassine wrapper and a bound-in silk book-mark (You can see it in the illustration). Some of them come in more than one color. And this binding wasn't introduced until Winnie-The-Pooh came out, so you can find "one/ornate" 1st editions of the last three books, but the earliest you'll find When We Were Very Young in the limp leather "one/ornate" is the 7th edition. (You will also find 10ths.) The covers had the same artwork as on the trade editions, but embossed in gold.
(Photo courtesy of Jonkers Rare Books, Henley on Thames, www.jonkers.co.uk)
Please note: If you wish to buy the copy shown, if Jonkers hasn't sold it already, do visit their page and examine their original image closely. This copy is of a lower resolution than the one he offers, to make this page load reasonably quickly. (If you go looking for the one Jonkers was selling and find it gone, please let me know, and I will revise this paragraph!)
The spines were gorgeous. (The tan one in the photo below actually comes from a "tan/hexagon" copy, but they had the same spine as the "one/ornate" volumes.)
Someday, I'm going to start (or find!) a comprehensive study of which titles were available in which colors for the one/ornate binding, and then do the same for the other bindings.
I'd been collecting them for some time when I came across another copy of one "I already had"... but in a different color! What would it take to have a complete collection.
Well, rather a lot, it turns out. 3 Apr 24, I was browsing Abe, and for When We Were Very Young, on that date, in the one/ornate version I could see copies in...
Green, dark blue, robin's egg blue, and at least one shade of red, quite possibly two.
In my experience, this binding is less frequently seen at Abebooks than the one/ornate binding. I just have too few data points to make an informed judgement about which is more desirable. And your personal taste comes into the equation, too, of course.
What I'm calling the "tan hexagon" binding is in a tan leather (always tan, as far as I am aware), with "AAM" in a hexagon in the center of the front board. To my taste: Very attractive.
Editions: I've seen the following editions bound in the tan/ hexagon binding....
First published October 11th 1928 Second edition December 1928 Third edition (1929)
Perhaps this binding was first introduced when at the first release of The House At Pooh Corner?
On 29 May 17, I looked at 240 listings, most expensive to least, for Winnie... and found only one available in this binding... and the top and bottom of the spine of that was, alas, quite damaged.
And another "special"... the loveliest of the lot, in some ways... although the tan/hexagon is elegant.
From at least 1927 a new "special" binding became available. I presume these books were sold in a box, too, though I haven't seen one.
The image of the front board doesn't do justice to its lovely, warm, dark chocolate color, but at least it shows that this binding style had five illustrations on the front board (center, and each corner), and a refined plain spine. (Hence my short-hand designation "5/p", for the five illustrations and the plain spine.) Do not confuse instances of this binding with the Bayntun binding, which I believe is a re-binding by Methuen, the publisher. (The Bayntun copies are very nice, but I have to draw the line somewhere in my collecting, and in the information on this website!) The front board of the Bayntuns was similar to that of the publisher's later "special"... but the Bayntun spine has raised bands, and more text/ decoration. The "A"s in "AA Milne" in the publisher's edition are somewhat unusual. They remind me of Durer's "A".
These photos show what the front boards and the spines of the 5/plain bindings were like. The color of the When We Were Very Young was a more saturated red.
I've seen first edition copies of Winnie-The-Pooh in the 1/ornate binding. (Remember that When We Were Very Young isn't... unless you know otherwise, as they say!... available in "one/ornate" earlier than as a 7th edition).
However, in the "five/plain" binding, the earliest I have seen is...
You can, I think, draw various conclusions from the above. Additional clues are in the following...
In the When We Were Very Young, there is no mention of other books being available in the same binding.
On 29 May 17, I looked at 240 listings, most expensive to least, for Winnie... and found none available in this binding on that date.
In the Winnie-The-Pooh...(to follow)
In the 3rd edition (1927) Now We Are Six, facing the title page, there is a note saying that the other three titles then available (House At Pooh Corner didn't come out until 1928) were "Available... Uniform with this volume"
In the first edition House At Pooh Corner, all three of the other titles are listed as being available "uniform... with...".
Left to right:
1) The trade, 2) one (illustration)/ornate (spine), 3) tan hexagon, and 4) five (illustrations)/plain (spine) bindings.
(The trade binding for the first edition. Since preparing these images, I have had preliminary hints of a different trade binding used from about 1935. The Winnie-The-Pooh collector's quest is never finished!)
Note that just the lower right hand corner of the front board is all you really need to check to see what binding you are looking at. (Except that would allow you to confuse a five/plain with a Bayntun! To tell five/plain from Bayntun, once you know you have one or the other: Check the spine.)
I wish I could get my hands on the mouse that chewed the top of the spine of the tan/hexagon copy, but I guess that's not going to happen.
And now you can return to the page with an overview of collecting the Winnie-The-Pooh books from AA Milne and EH Shepard... or, if you came here from there, just close the tab or window this is in, and you should find the overview page underneath it.
Editor's email address for comments or questions.
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