(2) Miniature Book Sets, from Maurice Sendak (1928-2012) and A.A. Milne (1882-1956). 

Size: (largest) 4 X 2 3/4 X 1 1/2 in. 

This lot consists of two miniature sets of books, one by Maurice Sendak and the other by A A Milne. 

The Sendak set is titled the Nutshell Library and has four volumes inside a slipcase: Alligators All Around, An Alphabet; Chicken Soup with Rice, A Book of Months; One Was Johnny, A Counting Book; and Pierre, A Cautionary Tale in Five Chapters and a Prologue, the books were written and illustrated in color by Sendak and published by Harper Collins in 1962, they all come in reddish pink boards and have their dust jackets. The books are a later printing and not the first edition, which was published by Harper and Row  in 1962 and came in salmon-colored boards. (See Hanrahan A51.) The slipcase measures 4 x 2 3/4 inches wide and the books and the slipcase are in great condition. The slipcase is sturdy and the books have tight bindings and clean pages and text, the dust jackets are very clean, and this set would make a great gift pack. 

The A A Milne set is titled Pooh’s Pot o’ Honey and is a first edition set with four volumes inside a slipcase, and three of the four volumes have a dust jacket. The titles are Titles are "Pooh Goes Visiting," Pooh and Piglet Go Hunting," "Eeyore Loses a Tail," "Pooh Hears a Buzzing Noise”, they have honey-colored boards, the set was published by E P Dutton in 1968 and “first edition” is stated on the copyright page of each book and no later printings are listed. The slipcase measures 3 7/8 x 2 3/4 inches wide and is in good condition, with light wear at the edges, and the books are in good condition too. They have tight bindings and clean pages and text, and the dust jackets have mild wear on the spines. (Pooh Hears A Buzzing Noise” is missing its dust jacket.) One jacket has a blemish on the edge of the front flap. 

A signed Sendak set goes for $800 to $960, and if it was just a plain first edition set in the salmon cloth with the slipcase, it would go for $250 or more. We found only four first edition sets of the A A Milne books listed on the rare book website we use and they range from $350 to $475 a set, so the sets are rare, especially as first editions.