Letters from Winnie The Pooh author to be auctioned

A collection of letters written by Winnie The Pooh author AA Milne are due to go under the hammer.

The correspondence has been passed down through the family of Vincent Seligman and his wife Barbara, who were lifelong friends of the writer.

Also included in the collection is a missive from Milne's son, who was the inspiration and namesake for his character, Christopher Robin.

The auction is due to take place in Melbourne, Derbyshire, on 11 February.

Born in 1882, Alan Alexander Milne became one of the world's most revered children's authors, with characters like Winnie The Pooh, Piglet, Tigger and Eeyore still hugely popular to this day.

The letters give an insight into his friendship with the couple.

One letter states: "Thank you Darling for putting up with me. You are a blessed pair, and I am most grateful to you", with Milne signing off with his nickname "Blue".

In others the author talks of attending Lords for a match, asks if he may stay with the couple on his way to Cambridge and thanks Barbara for sending on a selection of items he had left behind on a visit.

The note from Milne's son, Christopher Robin, thanks Vincent for some stamps he sent to him and talks about his "dear little pony called Cracker".

Auction house owner Irita Marriott said: "These incredible letters have come to us directly from Vincent's family and have never been on the market before so we are very excited to have them.

"They give a real insight into AA Milne's life and the sense of what he was really like as a person with the people who knew him best."

The letters will be sold as individual lots with estimates ranging from £80 to £700.

Last year a plastic bag found in an attic that contained original Winnie the Pooh manuscripts and drawings and other papers linked to AA Milne sold at auction in the West Midlands for £95,000.

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