Inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, “To my dear friend Charles Waldstein in memory of Athens, Christmas 1889. With the Author’s love, April 23 1890”. Waldstein, an archaeologist, was head of the American School of Classical Studies in Athens. Seaman, editor of Punch, is a strong candidate for the original of Eeyore: Milne worked under him for decades, describing hims as “a strange, unlucky man. All the Good Fairies came to his christening, but the Uninvited Fairy had the last word.” Pessimistic and po-faced, he once said sadly of someone “He is the kind of man who doesn’t take his humour seriously.” (All quotations from Ann Thwaite. Endpapers foxed, spine sunned, but an excellent copy.
