(One of her first pet rabbits was named Benjamin Bouncer). Others, like ``The Tale of Two Bad Mice'' and ``Jemima Puddle-Duck,'' were based on the animals she kept in her London home or on her Lake District farms. Many began as stories or ideas written in picture letters to children.
Potter always insisted that her books remain small and inexpensive so that children could afford them. She first published it privately, at her own expense, but then cooperated with her publishers in bringing it out commercially in 1903. That honor went to ``The Tailor of Gloucester,'' a story about an old tailor whose success was due to a group of mice who helped him with his work in gratitude for saving them from his cat. Its first edition of 8,000 copies sold out instantly, and by the end of the year, 28,000 copies of the book were in print. ``The Tale of Peter Rabbit'' was an immediate success. That letter detailing the adventures of Peter, Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cottontail was written in 1893 and transformed into book form in 1902 by Frederick Warne & Co., who eventually published all 23 of her ``little books.'' Of particular interest is the illustrated letter she wrote to a young child that became the basis for ``The Tale of Peter Rabbit.'' Sold at auction and purchased by an anonymous collector several decades ago, its whereabouts remained unknown until a recent newspaper advertisement drew a response from its owner and the promise of its loan to the present exhibition. Several of her exquisitely detailed watercolor drawings of different species of fungi, as well as microscopic drawings of spiders, beetles, and butterfly wings, hang beside her illustrations for children's books and landscape studies.Īnd to round off the show, its organizers have included her childhood sketchbook her first commercially successful drawings for greeting cards numerous letters, manuscripts, photographs, and other memorabilia, including her paint box, clogs, and hat.
What even her most devoted admirers didn't generally know, however, was that she was also an avid student of natural history with a particular expertise in mushrooms. Tiggy-Winkle, Jemima Puddle-Duck, Squirrel Nutkin, and a host of other characters that have delighted children - and more adults than might wish to admit it - from the time the books in which they appeared were first published to the present. The Ford Motor Company is the corporate sponsor.įor those few who might not know, Beatrix Potter (1866-1943), was the creator of Peter Rabbit, Mrs. It was organized by Britain's National Trust, which owns many of Potter's original watercolors and drawings. Literally hundreds of these friendly little animals, together with an assortment of birds, insects, and reptiles, populate this truly delightful exhibition. Not only are her cats generally stiff and bug-eyed, they often also appear quite mad and villainous.īut then, perhaps that's understandable, considering how devoted she was to mice, rabbits, squirrels, hedgehogs, and other small furry creatures.
And even then, they would have to admit that their criticism derived largely from Miss Potter's apparent inability to empathize with animals of the feline variety. ONLY dedicated cat lovers could possibly have anything bad to say about ``Beatrix Potter: Artist and Storyteller'' on view at the Pierpont Morgan Library here.
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