Letter from ‘Winnie the Pooh’ to young fan fetches more than $15,000
A 1935 letter signed by “Winnie the Pooh” — actually written by illustrator Ernest Howard Shepard — fetched triple its expected amount when it sold for more than $15,000.
The note, which included a drawing of the titular bear from A.A. Milne’s book series as well as best friend Piglet, apologized to a young fan named “Buffkins” for missing his birthday party, UPI reported.
Dominic Winters Autioneers said “Buffkins” was a childhood nickname for Harry Stopes-roe, whose mother, Marie Stopes, was a close friend of Shepard. The Stopes-roe family said Harry would often invited “Winnie the Pooh” to his birthday parties, and the illustrator would respond with a letter apologizing for the bear’s absence.
The letter was riddled with intentional Pooh-esque misspellings.
“We are teribly sorry that we shant be able to come to your party on March 30th but we are going to be away. Thank you so much for inviteing us,” the note read.
The letter had been expected to fetch a top bid of up to $5,000 when it went under the hammer, but it ended up selling for a total $15,521.
Shepard, who died in 1976, was famed as the illustrator for Milne’s books, as well as his 50-year tenure at Punch magazine.