E.H. Shepard Archive

The core of the archive constitutes the material that remained with E.H. Shepard following his donation of drawings and sketches to the Victoria and Albert Museum and the British Cartoon Archive: personal, business, and fan correspondence; personal and family papers; personal ephemera; copies of books he wrote or illustrated; appointment diaries; sketchbooks; photographs; pencil, ink, and watercolour drawings; oil paintings; manuscript material; press cuttings, sales catalogues, and magazines.

In addition, material accumulated by the University of Surrey relating to E.H. Shepard has been catalogued as part of this collection. This accumulated material includes later editions of works illustrated or written by Shepard; books and reference material about Shepard; some photographs of locations specific to Shepard's life; and artwork by Shepard donated by third parties.

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

At the time of cataloguing in 2008 no original order could be identified. Therefore an arrangement was imposed taking as a starting point transparency of information and ease of use for researchers. The collection was divided into series based on document type and a letter code assigned:

• A: Personal papers, objects, and ephemera
• B: Books
• C: Correspondence
• D: Diaries
• E: Sketchbooks
• F: Photographs
• G: Artwork
• GR: Reproduction Artwork
• H: Manuscripts
• I: Other items

Each series was further sub-divided into sub-series and files as appropriate: Generally, manuscripts and artwork based on the work they were for, personal papers based on what aspect of Shepard's life they deal with, and correspondence by correspondent and date.

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.

The collection was donated to the University of Surrey by E.H. Shepard and Norah Carroll Shepard in 1974. Norah Carroll Shepard bequeathed additional items at the time of her death. Additional material, including copies of books by E.H. Shepard and reference works, has been collected by the University of Surrey from a variety of sources, including publishing companies and individual private donors.

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

The core of the collection was catalogued by Patricia Dark during the period January 2008-July 2009, with subsequent revisions by members of the Archives and Special Collections team.

Collection level description compiled by Melanie Peart in 2021, incorporating earlier record created as part of the 2008-2009 cataloguing project, and revised by Simon Mackley in 2023.

This Archives Hub description prepared by Simon Mackley in November 2023. Please see the University of Surrey Archives and Special Collections online catalogue for any subsequent amendments.

Shepard donated a number of sketches and drawings relating to Winnie-the-Pooh to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, in 1969. Shepard also donated drawing and cartoons created for Punch to the British Cartoon Archive. In 1976 Norah Carroll Shepard donated drawings and paintings by Shepard relating to the First World War to the Imperial War Museum, London.

Other items were painted by Shepard on commission or sold during his lifetime and are in (generally unidentified) private hands.

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.

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

• The HarperCollins Publishers Limited Collection, which comprises hand-coloured illustrations by E.H. Shepard from Winnie-the-Pooh and Wind in the Willows [collection reference: EGM];
• The Shepard Trust Collection, which includes E.H. Shepard's artwork from the First World War [collection reference: ST].

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.