The Shepard Trust Collection

The collection comprises material selected for inclusion in 'E.H. Shepard: An Illustrator’s War', an exhibition held at The House of Illustration, London, 9 October 2015 to 10 January 2016. It relates to E.H. Shepard's early life and his military service, from his engagement to his return from Italy after the First World War. The collection consists mostly of drawings created by Shepard, both commercially for magazines and personally during military service in the First World War. Also included are photographs depicting life before and during the War, and several of Shepard's belongings.

Ernest Howard Shepard (1979-1976) was an illustrator known for his illustrations for the satirical magazine Punch , his original illustrations for the Winnie-the-Pooh books by A.A. Milne, and his illustrations for The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame. In addition, he illustrated a variety of other books for adults and children, wrote and illustrated his own books Ben and Brock and Betsy and Joe , as well as writing two volumes of memoirs Drawn from Life and Drawn from Memory . He served as an officer in France, Belgium and Italy during the First World War, and as a volunteer in the Home Guard during the Second World War.

The Shepard Trust manages Shepard's literary and artistic estate, and works to safeguard Shepard's legacy. In this capacity it holds papers, illustrations, artworks and artefacts of Shepard's as part of its private collection. The Shepard Trust has deposited a selection of these materials on long-term loan with University of Surrey Archives and Special Collections, to facilitate wider access to the collection.

These items were selected from the wider holdings of The Shepard Trust for inclusion in the exhibition, and as such there was no original order to the material. An arrangement was therefore devised during cataloguing, based on the types, formats and chronology of the material.

Material is available to view in the University of Surrey Archives and Special Collections Research Room.

Access to some collection items may be restricted, for instance where sensitive personal or commercial information has been identified during cataloguing, or to protect very fragile items. The Archives team will advise of any restrictions that may be in place. Limited access to uncatalogued elements of the collection may be provided at staff discretion, depending on the nature of the material and the degree of existing organisation.

All records are open to public access under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 unless subject to specific exemption. Records containing personal information on individuals are subject to the terms of UK Data Protection legislation.

Following the end of the 'E.H. Shepard: An Illustrator’s War' exhibition in January 2016, the items comprising this collection were transferred to University of Surrey Archives and Special Collections on a temporary basis. This was formalised as a long-term loan in 2017.

This collection and its catalogue contains terminology or content which could be considered offensive. The language used in the catalogue records reflect that of the original items and has been retained to record the language used at the time the item was created. It in no way reflects the attitudes of the cataloguer or the University of Surrey.

A catalogue for the collection is available to view on the University of Surrey Archives and Special Collections online catalogue .

Collection level description compiled by Matthew Waters, 2018, and subsequently revised by Melanie Peart, 2021, and Simon Mackley, 2024.

This Archives Hub description prepared by Simon Mackley in July 2024. Please see the University of Surrey Archives and Special Collections online catalogue for any subsequent amendments.

All requests to publish or otherwise reproduce material from the archive should be directed to archives@surrey.ac.uk in the first instance. Unauthorised copying or reproduction is strictly prohibited.

The Shepard Trust Collection originates from the personal holdings of the Shepard family, of which these materials form a part. In 2015 the Shepard Trust directly loaned the items to House of Illustration, London, where they featured in the exhibition 'E.H. Shepard: An Illustrator's War', which ran from 9 October 2015 to 10 January 2016. As part of their work on the exhibition, House of Illustration assigned temporary references to the items - these references (which all begin with letter T) have been retained in the catalogue as an alternative referencing system.

Following the exhibition the items were transferred to University of Surrey Archives and Special Collections, where they are held on long-term loan from The Shepard Trust.

Two related collections are held by Archives and Special Collections, University of Surrey:

• The E.H. Shepard Archive, [collection reference: EHS];
• The HarperCollins Publishers Limited Collection [collection reference: EGM].

In addition, Shepard's works are represented in the following collections held by other repositories:

• drawings and cartoons created by Shepard for Punch are held by the British Cartoon Archive, University of Kent, Canterbury;
• sketches and drawings by Shepard relating to Winnie-the-Pooh are held by the Victoria and Albert Museum, London;
• drawings and paintings by Shepard relating to the First World War are held by the Imperial War Museum, London;
• a small numbers of drawings, letters, etc, are held at: the University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, MS; The Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas at Austin, TX; the Australian War Memorial, Canberra, ACT; and Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI.

Prior to their inclusion in the exhibition 'E.H. Shepard: An Illustrator's War', items from the collection were used in the research for James Campbell's book, Shepard's War - E.H. Shepard: The Man Who Drew Winnie-the-Pooh (2015), London: Michael O'Mara Books Ltd.