First edition. The House at Pooh Corner, ‘the last of the four great children’s books [...], is probably now the most loved and popular of all. It introduces Tigger and the game of Poohsticks, and the underlying theme – of a child growing up and away from his toys, putting away childish things – gives it a particular resonance’ (A. Thwaite, The Brilliant Career of Winnie-the-Pooh (London, 1994), p. 109). The accidental dropping of a fir-cone into the river ‘was the beginning of the game called Poohsticks, which Pooh invented, and which he and his friends used to play on the edge of the Forest. But they played with sticks instead of fir-cones, because they were easier to mark’ (p. 94).

Reviewing The House at Pooh Corner on publication, the Times Literary Supplement remarked that here ‘the bear Pooh closes those few episodes in his life which have been disclosed by Mr. Milne, for this is the last, he declares, of the Winnie-the-Pooh books. It is impossible not to recognize the wisdom of Mr. Milne’s self-denying ordinance and equally impossible not to regret it. The series has won and deserved a unique place in nursery literature, and Mr. Milne is acting in Pooh’s interests in safeguarding his reputation’ (issue 1402 (13 December 1928), p. 985).

The first edition of The House at Pooh Corner was published on 11 October 1928 in an edition of 75,024 copies, and by July 1968 Methuen had sold 764,000 hardback copies and 500,000 copies in wrappers.

Haring-Smith, A.A. Milne, C108.