The Birth of Benjamin Bunny
Beatrix Potter is one of the most well-known children's authors ever. She is famous for creating loveable animal characters, like Peter Rabbit and Jemima Puddleduck, but she also made huge contributions to the worlds of natural science and land preservation.
Beatrix was from a wealthy, upper-class family. She was taught at home by a governess and had little interaction with other children except for her brother, Bertram. She kept many pets, however, including a green frog, two lizards, some water newts, a ring-snake, a tortoise, and two rabbits named Peter and Benjamin.
Beatrix loved to draw and would spend hours sketching her pets or telling stories about them. She was fascinated by all things nature-related and studied them as much as she could. She dedicated much of her childhood to sketching what she saw around her in as much detail as possible and kept a journal to go with those drawings for more than fifteen years.
Unfortunately, Beatrix's parents discouraged her from such intellectual pursuits. They felt it was her duty to get married and have a family, not to read books and draw pictures. She respectfully disagreed and spent her time after her brother was sent away to boarding school studying and sketching fungi in local parks. Her drawings were so detailed and so accurate that they were widely used in the mycology field, and she became well-respected in the discipline.
Beatrix first wrote the story of Peter Rabbit in a picture letter to Noel Moore, the five-year-old child of her last governess. The boy's mother, Annie, was so charmed by the story that she urged Beatrix to try to get it published. Encouraged, Beatrix sent her little book out to six publishers, but they each turned her down. Each publisher wanted color pictures, which were more popular at the time. All of Beatrix's illustrations were in black and white because she wanted it to be more affordable for children.
Undeterred, Beatrix worked to self-publish her creations. She was adamant her book be printed in black and white because the new color ink was so much more expensive, and she wanted her book to be as inexpensive as possible so as many kids as possible could read the book. She used her own money to privately print a few copies of her book. In September 1901, a year later, her dream became a reality: she had 250 printed copies of her book. The small printing had done so well that by the end of the year, she had been signed by Frederick Warne & Co. The publisher worked with her to reduce the number of images so all the pictures would fit on one page in the printing press, making color pictures an affordable option. (At the time, illustrations were printed on one large sheet of paper, which was then cut into individual pieces and added to books.) By the end of 1902, more than 28,000 copies of The Tale of Peter Rabbit were in print. This was a huge success for a single woman in her thirties.
While working on these books, Beatrix developed a close relationship with her publisher, Norman Warne. By early 1905, the two were secretly engaged. The match very much upset her parents, however, because he was a tradesman, and below her social class. The relationship, and ensuing arguments, caused a major rift between parents and daughter. Unfortunately, this much-contested wedding was not meant to be. Shortly after the engagement, Norman contracted pernicious anemia (a disease from a lack of vitamin B12) and died a few weeks later.
Beatrix's publishing successes left her with a significant fortune separate from that of her parents. She used her money to purchase Hilltop Farm in the Lake Country, he family's vacation escape house. While there, at the age of 47, she married William Heelis. Over the years until she died, she bought up more and more farms in Lake Country to keep them away from the prospectors. Eventually she owned more than 4,000 acres of land in Lake Country. When she died in 1943, she donated all her property to The National Trust.
Beatrix Potter left a great legacy behind, in her contributions to natural science and land preservation. Despite her hardships, she worked continuously to achieve her dreams.
For more information, check out her official website, www.peterrabbit.com, or watch the movie Miss Potter.
Beatrix was from a wealthy, upper-class family. She was taught at home by a governess and had little interaction with other children except for her brother, Bertram. She kept many pets, however, including a green frog, two lizards, some water newts, a ring-snake, a tortoise, and two rabbits named Peter and Benjamin.
Beatrix loved to draw and would spend hours sketching her pets or telling stories about them. She was fascinated by all things nature-related and studied them as much as she could. She dedicated much of her childhood to sketching what she saw around her in as much detail as possible and kept a journal to go with those drawings for more than fifteen years.
Unfortunately, Beatrix's parents discouraged her from such intellectual pursuits. They felt it was her duty to get married and have a family, not to read books and draw pictures. She respectfully disagreed and spent her time after her brother was sent away to boarding school studying and sketching fungi in local parks. Her drawings were so detailed and so accurate that they were widely used in the mycology field, and she became well-respected in the discipline.
Beatrix first wrote the story of Peter Rabbit in a picture letter to Noel Moore, the five-year-old child of her last governess. The boy's mother, Annie, was so charmed by the story that she urged Beatrix to try to get it published. Encouraged, Beatrix sent her little book out to six publishers, but they each turned her down. Each publisher wanted color pictures, which were more popular at the time. All of Beatrix's illustrations were in black and white because she wanted it to be more affordable for children.
Undeterred, Beatrix worked to self-publish her creations. She was adamant her book be printed in black and white because the new color ink was so much more expensive, and she wanted her book to be as inexpensive as possible so as many kids as possible could read the book. She used her own money to privately print a few copies of her book. In September 1901, a year later, her dream became a reality: she had 250 printed copies of her book. The small printing had done so well that by the end of the year, she had been signed by Frederick Warne & Co. The publisher worked with her to reduce the number of images so all the pictures would fit on one page in the printing press, making color pictures an affordable option. (At the time, illustrations were printed on one large sheet of paper, which was then cut into individual pieces and added to books.) By the end of 1902, more than 28,000 copies of The Tale of Peter Rabbit were in print. This was a huge success for a single woman in her thirties.
While working on these books, Beatrix developed a close relationship with her publisher, Norman Warne. By early 1905, the two were secretly engaged. The match very much upset her parents, however, because he was a tradesman, and below her social class. The relationship, and ensuing arguments, caused a major rift between parents and daughter. Unfortunately, this much-contested wedding was not meant to be. Shortly after the engagement, Norman contracted pernicious anemia (a disease from a lack of vitamin B12) and died a few weeks later.
Beatrix's publishing successes left her with a significant fortune separate from that of her parents. She used her money to purchase Hilltop Farm in the Lake Country, he family's vacation escape house. While there, at the age of 47, she married William Heelis. Over the years until she died, she bought up more and more farms in Lake Country to keep them away from the prospectors. Eventually she owned more than 4,000 acres of land in Lake Country. When she died in 1943, she donated all her property to The National Trust.
Beatrix Potter left a great legacy behind, in her contributions to natural science and land preservation. Despite her hardships, she worked continuously to achieve her dreams.
For more information, check out her official website, www.peterrabbit.com, or watch the movie Miss Potter.