"Miss Potter":Beatrix Potter (Continued)

Interesting Facts About Beatrix Potter

The Tale of Peter Rabbit, published in 1902, was originally a picture letter Beatrix Potter wrote to a sick five year old son of an ex-Governess named Noel Moore.  The letter starts out “My dear Noel, I don’t know what to write to you, so I shall tell you a story about four little rabbits”.  100 years later the book has sold over 40 million copies and has been translated into 30 languages.  Most of her 23 books were about Peter Rabbit.  Beatrix did have a pet rabbit named Peter Piper, a Belgian Hare, that she took with her everywhere she went, even having a leash made for him so they could go on walks.

Beatrix Potter was quite the business woman and helped promote Peter Rabbit merchandise, even creating Peter Rabbit toys, puzzles and games which she had patented.  The commercialization of Peter Rabbit grew and grew until today it is a global retail empire.  There has even been a ballet production based on the Peter Rabbit stories.

As a precocious teen, Beatrix Potter kept a journal from the age of 14 to 30, writing in it every day in a code she made up.  It was not until 15 years after her death that the code was finally deciphered.  Her journal reveals her sharp criticism of the contemporary politicians and artists of her day.

Beatrix Potter was an accomplished Natural History painter.  She especially devoted her skills to painting mushrooms and other fungi.  She became a highly respected amateur mycologist and botanist artist, and an expert in spore generation and life cycles.  In 1897 one of her papers was read to the Linnean Society by her uncle Sir Henry Roscoe because they discriminated against women.  In 1997 the Society offered an official posthumous apology.

Before publishing books, Beatrix Potter made money illustrating greeting cards and booklets.  She also had a showing of her artwork in 1892.

When Beatrix Potter married Willie Heelis in 1913, they bought Castle Farm to live in located next door to her Hill Top farm, which became her studio (and the setting for many of her stories).  Beatrix invested in Herdwick Sheep and became the first female to be elected president of the Herdwick Sheep Breeding Association.

Beatrix Potter published her last book in 1930, but did continue to write her memoirs for newspapers and magazines.  When she died on December 27, 1943 at the age of 77, she bequeathed her 4,000 acre estate consisting of 15 working farms to the National Trust, an organization founded in 1895 by one of her friends, Canon Rawnsley.  Beatrix was cremated and her ashes were strewn over the Lake District National Park.  Beatrix Potter’s water colors are on display at the Armitt Library in Ambleside. 

Beatrix Potter is the best selling author of children’s books of all time, and her Peter Rabbit series is the most popular in UK history.

We leave you with this entry in Beatrix Potter’s journal on November 17, 1896:  “I remember I used to half believe and wholly play with fairies when I was a child.  What heaven can be more rich than to retain the spirit-world of childhood, tempered and balanced by knowledge and common sense”.
Links to Beatrix Potter Information

www.BeatrixPotter.com                            Official web site
www.OnlineBooks.library.upenn.edu         For book downloads
www.Gutenbery.org/etest/582                 For free downloads
www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main                Homepage for the National Trust