Last year marked the 150th anniversary of the birth of Helen Beatrix Potter, an English writer and illustrator, best known for her brightly illustrated stories about adorable animals.
She was born on July 28, 1866 in London, into a typical Victorian family. Her mother was the daughter of a wealthy shipbuilder and cotton merchant, and her father was a lawyer, so she was raised by a nanny and governess. When she was six years old, her brother Walter Bertram was born. Despite the age difference, the brother and sister shared many common interests: a love for nature and animals, drawing and painting. The Potter family spent the summer months in a large house in Scotland (Perthshire), where the children could freely play and explore their surroundings. Beatrix and Bertram didn’t socialize much with their peers, which they somewhat made up for with a large number of pets. Their pets, rabbits Peter and Benjamin, served as inspiration and models for her first and most famous picture book. The story of Peter Zecimir.
Even as a child, she spent a lot of her free time drawing plants and animals. Her realistic and highly detailed drawings of mushrooms, mosses, lichens, fossils, and insects were fascinating, but even more captivating were her drawings and paintings of imaginative scenes of animals dressed in human clothing, engrossed in sewing, knitting, cooking, and laundry… Her favorite technique was watercolor.
Noticing her inclination towards visual arts, Beatrix’s parents, who were also inclined towards art, hired an art teacher to teach her drawing and took her to exhibitions.
Although she never went to school, she showed great curiosity in natural sciences, particularly in studying insects and mushrooms.
Her interest in fungi was also supported by Scottish chemist Charles Macintosh, who was impressed by her precise drawings. He helped her in her work by sending her mushroom specimens during the winter season. She drew a large number of detailed botanical sketches. She studied the taxonomy of fungi, their growth, and reproduction by examining drawings, which she also wrote an article about.
At the end of the 19th century, she managed to sell her works for the first time: she and Bertram made greeting cards and sold them for Christmas and other special occasions. Publishing houses Hildesheimer & Faulkner and Ernest Nister bought her drawings, which they then used as illustrations in storybooks and poetry. Encouraged by her initial success and at the urging of her former governess and friend Annie Moore, Beatrix decided to publish her own books.
She chose the story of Peter Rabbit, which she first narrated and illustrated in a letter to Annie’s son Noel, who was often ill, so Beatrix wrote him letters to cheer him up. The story of the mischievous rabbit and his adventures in Farmer McGregor’s garden was first published in 1901 in a modest self-publishing edition for family and friends.
Peter Rabbit became Beatrix’s most famous character, often accompanied by his. cousin Benjamin. Their little adventures were full of excitement and fun, awakening the children’s desire for exploration, love for nature, and the importance of nurturing friendships.
The story was presented to the wider public in October of the following year, published by Frederick Warne & Co. Peter Rabbit achieved great success, bringing Beatrix fame, recognition, and financial independence.
Two new stories followed in 1903: The Tailor of Gloucester and The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin. With the help of editor Norman Warne, Beatrix continued to write, illustrate, and publish two to three little books each year.
Beatrix Potter and Norman Warne got along very well both privately and creatively. However, Beatrix’s mother was not pleased with the idea of her daughter befriending someone of a lower social status. Despite the objections, Beatrix and Norman Warne got engaged in July 1905. Unfortunately, just a month after their engagement, Warne passed away from leukemia.
Devastated by grief, Beatrix found solace in nature, spending long periods in the countryside and pursuing her passion for farming and conservation. In 1913, she married William Heelis, a local solicitor, and they lived happily together, dedicating their lives to preserving the beauty of the Lake District. Beatrix Potter’s charming tales continue to captivate readers of all ages, reminding us of the magic and wonder that can be found in the simplest of things. She finds comfort in work and visits to the beautiful landscapes of the Lake District, where she buys land and the Hill Top farm with the money she earns. Preserved in its original form, the house is now a popular tourist attraction. Since then, she has been staying and actively participating in rural life more and more often. Managing the farm required frequent collaboration with the rural solicitor William Heelis, whom she later married and who helped her in further purchasing surrounding farms. Over time, she bought a total of fifteen farms and actively participated in their maintenance and management. It is interesting to note that she also bred Herdwick sheep and won awards for it at local competitions.
At the age of fifteen, Beatrix began writing a secret diary in a special encrypted language that she invented herself, which was not decoded until fifteen years after her death. She wrote in it from 1881 to 1897.
Her Journal is significant because she recorded her impressions of art, artists, and society in it. She supported the work of the British association for the preservation of the environment and historical monuments – the National Trust. She realized the need to preserve the environment and rural culture, and followed their provisions regarding land cultivation and methods of plant and animal cultivation. She bequeathed fifteen farms and over 4000 hectares of land to the Herdwick sheep breeders’ association, thus helping to preserve the Lake District.
At the same time, she continued writing and painting, as much as the rural life allowed her. Overall, she wrote about thirty books, twenty-four of which are picture books, for which she is best known.
She died on December 22, 1943.
With the aim of popularizing and supporting the study of the life and work of this Victorian writer and illustrator, the Beatrix Potter Society was founded in 1980, and in 1988 the Beatrix Potter Gallery was opened in Hawkshead, where her original works are displayed. Nor works.
Her works are just as irresistibly appealing today as they were when she created them. Today, new generations of young and old readers are rediscovering her magical world and the unusual adventures of even more unusual heroes.
Meet Peter Rabbit, Benjamin Bunny, and their friends.
Peter wears a jacket and shoes. He lives in a rabbit hole with his family – his mother and sisters – which has a kitchen, furniture, and a shop where Mrs. Rabbit sells various things. Peter ignored his mother’s advice, snuck into Mr. McGregor’s garden, and ate some vegetables. Mr. McGregor spotted him and started chasing him. Peter managed to escape but lost his jacket and shoes, which Mr. McGregor used for his scarecrow. Exhausted, Peter returned home and went to bed after drinking chamomile tea.
The story continues with Benjamin. Benjamin helps his cousin retrieve their clothing, but they are captured by the farmer’s cat…
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