Beatrix Potter, renowned for her beloved tales of anthropomorphic animals, left a lasting mark on children’s literature.
22 December 2023 marks the 80th anniversary of her death, yet her timeless stories and illustrations continue to charm and educate generations, remaining all-time and much-loved children’s classics to this day. Beyond the world of literature, Beatrix Potter left an enduring legacy as an artist, conservationist, and pioneer in publishing and merchandising.
Here are 10 facts that illuminate the life and legacy of this iconic author and illustrator.
1. She had an early passion for nature
Helen Beatrix Potter was born on 28 July 1866 in Victorian-era London, and was educated by governesses in a rather solitary upbringing, isolated from other children.
She had numerous pets, and spent many holidays in Scotland and the Lake District where she developed a deep love and profound appreciation for the natural world that would later inspire her stories.
Potter spent much of her childhood sketching and studying plants and animals, and in her teenage years, often visited London’s art galleries. To earn money in the 1890s, Beatrix Potter illustrated her own Christmas cards, often featuring mice and rabbits. These went on to become her first commercially successful works as an illustrator.
In 1890, several of her drawings of ‘Benjamin Bunny’ were bought by the printing firm Hildesheimer and Faulkner to illustrate verses in A Happy Pair by Frederic Weatherly. In 1893, the same firm bought several more of Potter’s drawings for Weatherly’s Our Dear Relations, and the following year Potter sold a series of frog illustrations and verses for Changing Pictures, a popular annual. Encouraged by this success, Potter grew determined to publish her own illustrated stories.
2. Her most famous creation originated from a letter she wrote
Whenever Beatrix Potter had gone on holiday to the Lake District or Scotland, she sent letters to friends, including the children of her former governess Annie Carter Moore, illustrating them with quick sketches. Moore’s son Noel was often ill, and in September 1893, Potter wrote him a story. This would become Potter’s most famous creation, The Tale of Peter Rabbit.
Initially self-published in December 1901 after facing rejection from multiple publishers, the book was later published by Frederick Warne & Co on 2 October 1902, and became an instant success, captivating young readers with Potter’s charming narrative and whimsical illustrations.
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A facsimile of Beatrix Potter’s copy of the original Peter Rabbit letter that she wrote to Noel Moore from Eastwood, Dunkeld, 4 September 1893. Beatrix borrowed back the original leter and copied it out, with few very minor differences in the text and exactly copying the illustrations. Bottom Centre: Cover of the first edition, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, 1902
Image Credit: Main: Wikimedia Commons / Beatrix Potter / Museum in Hill Top Farm, National Trust / via Geertivp / Public Domain. Bottom Centre: Wikimedia Commons / Aleph-bet Books / Public Domain
The following year, Potter published The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin and The Tailor of Gloucester, which had also first been written as picture letters to the Moore children. Working with Norman Warne as her editor, Potter published two or three little books each year, totalling 23 books in all.
3. Her illustrations were scientifically accurate
Potter’s illustrations were not only captivating but also scientifically accurate. Her meticulous attention to detail in depicting flora and fauna garnered admiration from both literary and scientific circles.
4. She had an entrepreneurial spirit
Beyond her creative talents, Potter was a savvy businesswoman. She retained full control over her works, merchandise, and copyrights, breaking new ground in children’s literature by capitalising on licensing and merchandising opportunities for her characters.
As early as 1903, she made and patented a Peter Rabbit soft toy doll, making Peter the oldest licensed fictional character.
Beatrix Potter, ‘Certificate of registration for a Peter Rabbit doll, 1903’ © Frederick Warne & Co. 2006
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons / Frederick Warne & Co / M.L.Wits / CC BY-SA 4.0
This was followed by other ‘spin-off’ merchandise over the years, including painting books, board games, wall-paper, figurines, blankets and tea-sets, all licensed by Frederick Warne & Co. (Merchandise of Peter and other Potter characters have been sold at Harrods since at least 1910). These earned Potter an independent income, as well as large profits for her publisher.
In 1905, Potter became unofficially engaged to Norman Warne, yet the engagement sadly only lasted one month as Warne died of pernicious anaemia, aged 37.
5. She became a notable conservationist
With the proceeds from her early books and a legacy from an aunt, in 1905 (the same year as Warne’s death), Potter bought Hill Top Farm in Near Sawrey, a village in the Lake District near Windermere.
Passionate about preserving the Lake District’s natural beauty, Potter became a notable conservationist and, later in life, a substantial landowner, purchasing additional farms to conserve and protect large swaths of the Lake District.
6. She was fascinated by fungi
Potter’s interest in mycology (the study of fungi) was significant. She conducted extensive research, made detailed illustrations of fungi, and presented a paper on the germination of spores, making notable contributions and gaining wide respect within the field.
(Before her death, Potter bequeathed her folio of mycological drawings to the Armitt Library and Museum in Ambleside.)
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Beatrix Potter: reproductive system of Hygrocybe coccinea, 1897
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons / Beatrix Potter / Armitt Museum and Library / Public Domain
7. She had a deep interest in farming
Potter was deeply interested in farming and livestock breeding. Her experiences in agriculture informed her writings, and she applied her knowledge by breeding prize-winning Herdwick sheep at a large sheep farm she had bought. This established her as one of the major Herdwick sheep farmers in the county.
Owning and managing these working farms made Potter realise she needed to protect her land’s boundaries, and she sought advice from a local firm of respected solicitors with offices in nearby Hawkshead – W.H. Heelis & Son, routinely collaborating with William Heelis.
8. She married aged 47
In 1913, aged 47, Beatrix Potter married William Heelis. After this, the couple settled at Castle Cottage, a renovated farmhouse on the 24 acre Castle Farm in Near Sawrey in the Lake District, where she dedicated herself to farming, conservation, and writing. Hill Top remained a working farm with a tenant family, though Potter retained a private studio and workshop there.
Potter and William Heelis were happily married for 30 years, continuing their farming and preservation efforts throughout World War Two. Although having no children of their own, Potter played an important role in William’s large family.
9. She was profoundly generous
Beatrix Potter died of pneumonia and heart disease on 22 December 1943 at her home in Near Sawrey aged 77. She bequeathed almost all her land and property to the National Trust, and is credited with preserving much of the land that now constitutes the Lake District National Park, ensuring its preservation for future generations to enjoy.
Potter also left almost all the original illustrations for her books to the National Trust, and the copyright to her stories and merchandise was given to her publisher Frederick Warne & Co. On 1 January 2014, this copyright expired in the UK and other countries with a 70-years-after-death limit. The Tale of Peter Rabbit is owned by Warne, The Tailor of Gloucester by the Tate Gallery, and The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies by the British Museum.
The largest public collection of her letters and drawings is the Leslie Linder Bequest and Leslie Linder Collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
Potter’s home, Hill Top Farm, was opened to the public by the National Trust in 1946; her artwork was displayed there until 1985 when it was moved to William Heelis’s former law offices in Hawkshead, also owned by the National Trust as the Beatrix Potter Gallery.
10. She had an enduring literary impact
Potter’s books continue to sell throughout the world in many languages with her stories being retold in songs, films, ballet, and animations, and her life is depicted in two films and a television series.
Potter’s legacy endures through her timeless stories and enchanting illustrations. Her books have been translated into numerous languages and continue to captivate children and adults alike worldwide.
