Preferred Citation	For item 65.520.1002, use: James F. Drake, Inc. Art Collection (AR-00130). Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin. For all other items, use: Ernest H. (Ernest Howard) Shepard Art Collection (AR-00250). Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin.
	Acquisition:	Internal transfers and purchases, 1950-1993
	Processed by:	Ransom Center Staff; Jill Morena, 2019

Repository:

Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin

Ernest Shepard (British, 1879-1976) is best known for his illustration work for children's author A. A. (Alan Alexander) Milne, and most noteably for his representations of characters in the Winne-the-Pooh stories. Shepard was born on December 10, 1879, in London. His father was an architect, and his mother, who died when Shepard was 10 years old, was the daughter of watercolorist William Lee. From an early age, Shepard was encouraged by both parents to pursue a career as an artist. After his mother's death, Shepard, his father, and his siblings lived with his paternal aunts for about a year before moving to a home in Hammersmith where many of their neighbors were artists. He studied drawing at Heatherley's Art School for one year, and he was subsequently accepted to the Royal Academy School on a scholarship in 1897. In 1904, he married Florence Chaplin, a fellow student at the Royal Academy. Before serving in the Royal Artillery in World War I, Shepard designed book jackets and provided illustrations for various journals and magazines. After the armistice, Shepard continued to draw and send illustrations to be considered for publication while stationed abroad in Italy. Beginning in 1921, Shepard would become steadily employed by Punch, to which he would contribute for nearly fifty years as an illustrator and cartoonist. Shepard served on the editorial board of Punch, and through this capacity he met Milne and E. V. (Edward Verrall) Lucas, a writer, fellow board member, and Meuthen & Co. publishing house chairman. Meuthen would go on to publish many of the over 50 children's and adult books Shepard would illustrate in his lifetime. In addition to fictional stories and verse, Shepard illustrated his two childhood and early adulthood memoirs, Drawn from Memory (1957) and Drawn from Life (1961). He was named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1972. Shepard died on March 24, 1976, in Midhurst, United Kingdom.

This inventory lists all art works by Ernest H. Shepard (British, 1879-1976) that are found in both the Ernest H. (Ernest Howard) Shepard Art Collection (AR-00250) and the James F. Drake, Inc. Art Collection (AR-00130). The majority of the items are original drawings illustrating verse and stories by A. A. (Alan Alexander) Milne, including illustrations for Winnie-the-Pooh stories and verses appearing in Milne's When We Were Very Young (1924). Also present are an illustration for Georgette Agnew's Let's Pretend (1927) (69.51); an illustration with verse for the London journal, Sketch (76.58), and four original drawings with handwritten verse about various British counties by E. V. (Edward Verrall) Lucas, which initially appeared in Punch and were published together in Mr. Punch's County Songs (1928). One of the drawings (65.520.1002) is attributed to Shepard.

The drawings are organized into three series: Series I. Illustrations for Verse and Stories by A. A. (Alan Alexander) Milne, circa 1924-1928, of which two items include handwritten verse by Milne on accompanying mats; Series II. Illustrations for Verse by E. V. (Edward Verrall) Lucas, circa 1928, which also includes handwritten verse with the images, possibly in Lucas's hand; and Series III. Other Works, circa 1920-1927.

Correspondence to and from Shepard can be found in the Ernest H. (Ernest Howard) Shepard Collection (MS-03814). Items 65.246.1.1-2, 65.246.2.1-2, and 93.7.1.1 listed in this inventory were internally transferred from the A. A. (Alan Alexander) Milne Collection (MS-02844).

	People
		Agnew, Georgette.
		Lucas, E. V. (Edward Verrall), 1868-1938.
		Milne, A. A. (Alan Alexander), 1882-1956.
		Shepard, Ernest H. (Ernest Howard), 1879-1976.
	Subjects
		Children’s literature, English.
		Children's Prose Poems.
		Winnie-the-Pooh (Fictitious character).
	Document Types
		Pen and ink drawings.
		Pencil drawings.
		Watercolors.