Shepard, E H (1879-1976) Collection

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: GB 2109 Shepard
Held at	: University of Surrey Guildford   Click here to find out how to view this collection at http://www.surrey.ac.uk/library/research/archives/ ›
Full title	: Shepard, E H (1879-1976) Collection
Date(s)	: c1907-c1970
Level of description	: Collection (fonds)
Extent	: 5 cupboards and 7 shelves, including 1400 drawings and 4000 letters
Name of creator(s)	: Shepard | Ernest Howard | 1879-1976 | artist and book illustrator

Context

Administrative/Biographical history:

Ernest Howard Shepard was born on December 10, 1879, in London. His father was an architect, and his mother was the daughter of a watercolorist. He was educated at St.Paul's School, Heatherley's Art School, and the Royal Academy Schools. His first picture was exhibited in the Royal Academy in 1901 and in 1907 Shepard had his first piece of work accepted by Punch. In 1915 he was commissioned by the Royal Artillery and served in France, Belgium, and Italy. During this time he continued to send regular contributions to Punch. On his return to civilian life in 1919, Shepard was elected to the Punch Editorial Table, where he met E.V. Lucas, who would later introduce him to A.A. Milne, author of the Winnie the Pooh books. The success of the Pooh books made Shepard famous and he contributed illustrations to more than fifty books, for both adults and children, among them Kenneth Grahame's classic The Wind in the Willows. He also contributed a weekly cartoon to Punch until 1949 and thereafter a monthly illustration. Although he closed his London studio in 1955 and retired to Lodsworth in Sussex, Shepard continued working into old age, completing some new Pooh drawings for a revised edition in 1968 and colouring his drawings for a special edition in 1973. He was twice married, in 1903 to Florence Chaplin (d.1927), a fellow student at the Academy, and in 1944 to Norah Carrol. He died in 1976.

Content

Scope and content/abstract:

E H Shepard Collection, c1907-c1970, comprising his diaries and letters, including correspondence with Punch; manuscripts of his autobiographies Drawn from Memory (1957) and Drawn from Life (1962); manuscripts of other minor works; original illustrations for many of his books; original drawings for the Charivari page of Punch; photographs and personal memorabilia from the two World Wars of the 20th century.

Access & Use

Language/scripts of material:
English

System of arrangement:

Arranged as indicated in Scope and Content above.

Conditions governing access:

Open by arrangement with the Archivist.

Conditions governing reproduction:

At the discretion of the Archivist and subject to copyright requirements

Finding aids:

Archival Information

Archival history:

The Shepard Collection consists of all the material he had in his possession after he had sold the rights of Winnie the Pooh to the Disney Corporation.

Immediate source of acquisition:

Deposited with the University by E.H. Shepard in 1974.

Allied Materials

Related material:

The Victoria & Albert Museum holds a collection of 300 of Shepard's preliminary sketches for the Pooh drawings, donated by him in 1969.

National Register of Archives: Click here to view NRA record

Publication note:

Description Notes

Archivist's note:
Compiled by Janet Foster as part of the RSLP AIM25 Project

Rules or conventions:
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions:
November 2000