![]() She sent the book off to publishers-who promptly rejected it. So Potter borrowed the letters back and set about expanding Peter Rabbit by adding text and illustrations. They were so well-loved that Moore suggested they might make good children’s books. It was one of several letters Potter wrote to Moore’s children over the years. In 1893, when she was 27 years old, Potter wrote a charming letter about Peter Rabbit to Noel Eastwood, the son of her former governess, Annie Moore. There, she collected a menagerie of pets that included snakes, salamanders, bats, birds, snails, hedgehogs and two rabbits named Peter and Benjamin Bouncer. As such, Potter grew up wealthy, providing her the luxury to spend much of her childhood drawing, painting and studying nature on the family estates. Potter’s paternal grandfather, Edmund Potter, ran the largest calico printing company in England and was the co-founder of the Manchester School of Design. She came from a marketing family and mercantilism was in her blood.” My view is that she was a natural marketer. “It’s not generally known how successful she was at it. ![]() “She was an incredibly astute businesswoman,” says Linda Lear, author of Beatrix Potter: A Life In Nature. In the process, she created a system that continues to benefit all licensed characters, from Mickey Mouse to Harry Potter. Potter built a retail empire out of her “bunny book” that is worth $500 million today. But she was also an entrepreneur and a pioneer in licensing and merchandising literary characters. Since her first book was published in 1902, Potter has been recognized as an author, artist, scientist and conservationist. But the sweet stories of Peter Rabbit, Jemima Puddle-Duck and others helped hide a savvy mind for business-and an author who was among the first to realize that her readers could help build a business empire. In addition to producing some great art for our children to enjoy, she seems to have led a life worth their attention as well.Beatrix Potter is known for her gentle children's books and beautiful illustrations. She left almost all of her land holdings to the National Trust, preserving much of the land that now makes up the Lake District National Park. In 1913, at the age of 47, she married William Heelis, a respected solicitor.īeatrix Potter was born Jand passed away at 77 years of age on December 22, 1943. ![]() In her personal life, she was briefly engaged to be married in 1905, but her fiance died suddenly of leukemia. In addition to her talents as an author and land manager, Beatrix Potter showed an entrepreneurial streak and designed spin-off merchandise based on her stories. She studied and illustrated the reproduction of fungal spores, drawing microscopic spores for the benefit of the larger community and producing her own thesis on the process of mushroom reproduction.īeatrix Potter produced over twenty-three books writing and illustrating (and managing her farms) until failing eyesight made the tasks too difficult. She had access to accomplished botanist and mycological experts and after some brief mentoring she was engaged in her own substantial scientific mycological research. To my personal delight, her scientific interests centered on mycology (mycology = the study of mushrooms). Showing naturalist and scientific inclinations, she illustrated insects, fossils and mushrooms. It was the first of several land purchases she would make. Using the legacy from an aunt and the proceeds from the sales of Peter Rabbit, Beatrix Potter bought the Hill Top Farm in Near Sawrey in the English Lake District in 1905. The world of children’s literature would be much poorer if she had not moved beyond that first private publication, which was probably for the benefit of her large extended family. It was released publicly a year later as a three-colour illustrated book. The Tale of Peter Rabbit, was written, illustrated and published privately in 1901. From these advantages, Potter combined her artistic ability, rich imagination, and natural curiosity to leave us with a legacy of wonderful children’s tales. Beatrix was educated by a private governess until the age of 18 and also benefited from private art lessons. The children were indulged with numerous small animals and pets, which gave them the opportunity to observe the animals and draw them. Benefitting from the idyllic childhood she and her brother Walter spent summer holidays in Scotland and in the English Lake District. To her credit, she made the most of her opportunities and left us with a legacy rich in writing, illustrations and land preservation. Helen Beatrix Potter (1866 - 1943) was fortunate enough to be born into a life of privilege.
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