They never caught on as they were expected to. For four years now e-books have been in steady decline.

They’re not always cheaper than printed books – and real book-lovers never liked them anyway.

And their decline has been mirrored by an increased interest in collectable books, as will be reflected in a sale in Carlisle on Wednesday.

The sale, by auctioneers Thomson Roddick, features first editions of AA Milne classics Winnie The Pooh and The House At Pooh Corner.

There is a second edition of Now We Are Six from 1927 and a fourth edition of When We Were Very Young from 1924. All come in their original cloth covers and are together expected to fetch £400 to £600.

A selection of early legal books regarding prison and criminals, published by J Cooke, are also coming up. There is The Newgate Calendar or Malefactors’ Bloody Register in five volumes, and Tyburn Chronicle or Villainy Display’d, in four volumes.

Both are thought to date from the late 1700s and could each sell for £100 to £150.

A limited edition of Paintings of Africa & India by David Shepherd, signed by the author, comes in a cover made partly from Nigerian goatskin. It dates from 1978 and also has an estimate of £100 to £150.

Le Livre Jou-Jou by Jean-Pierre Bres was printed in Paris in 1831 and is considered the forerunner of children’s moveable picture and pop-up books. It contains 10 hand-coloured engraved plates, with sliding parts, that reveal hidden images behind them. It could fetch £200 to £300.

But the most valuable volume by far is the wartime story La Ballade du Soldat by Georges Ribemont-Dessaignes, with illustrations by German artist Max Ernst – signed by the author and the illustrator.

It was published In 1972 and contains 34 lithographs and two vignettes, and could sell for between £600 and £1,000.

There is also a large selection of books on clocks and watches and Cumbrian topography, history and agriculture.

The sale begins at midday. Items can be viewed between 10am and 5pm on Tuesday and from 9am on the sale day.