Naturalist, Illustrator, and Business Woman

When I was growing up, my parents exposed me to lots of classic children’s stories. At the time I didn’t realize that many of the books they gave me had been published decades before my birth – Robert Louis Stevenson’s A Child’s Garden of Verses, Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden, and Beatrix Potter’s The Tale of Peter Rabbit to name a few.

Before she wrote about Peter Rabbit, Helen Beatrix Potter was a naturalist and illustrator. Born in 1866 in South Kensington, England to wealthy parents, she was educated by a series of governesses. The house was constantly filled with a menagerie of pets, and Beatrix was encouraged to pursue her artistic talents by drawing them. She developed an interest in the natural sciences, particularly fungi, and in her early 30s wrote a paper titled “On the Germination of the Spores of Agaricineae” which was presented to the Linnean Society on her behalf. (Women were not allowed in this all male organization.) 

She earned a living by selling her artwork to greeting card companies and providing illustrations to a number of publishers, but continued to study nature. It wasn’t until 1901 that she self-published her first children’s book based on a picture letter about her pet rabbit Benjamin Bouncer she had sent to a family friend. The book was so popular that the publisher who originally turned her down offered to publish it if she would redo the illustrations in color. Followed up by The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin and The Tailor of Gloucester, the stories were a commercial success. Twenty more books would follow.

Peter Rabbit Board Game

A savvy business woman, Beatrix created and registered a Peter Rabbit doll with the Patent Office. A board game, painting books, and wallpaper were also produced during her lifetime. The merchandising efforts added to her financial success, and she was able to purchase Hill Top Farm in the Lake District. Four years later she purchased the property across the street, Castle Farm where she bred and raised Herdwick Sheep. Her deep interest in nature led her to become an enthusiastic supporter of land conservation and one of the early benefactors of England’s National Trust.

Not surprising, when she died on December 22, 1943, Beatrix bequeathed fifteen farms and over 4,000 acres to the National Trust.

What is your favorite children’s book?

Linda Shenton Matchett is an author, journalist, blogger, and history geek. Born in Baltimore, Maryland, a stone’s throw from Fort McHenry, Linda has lived in historical places most of her life. She is a volunteer docent at the Wright Museum of WWII and a Trustee for her local public library. Active in her church Linda serves as treasurer, usher, and choir member. To find out more about Linda and her books visit www.LindaShentonMatchett.com. Sign up for her newsletter for links to free books, book reviews, historical tidbits, and more.

The Art of Beatrix Potter

By Shirley Raye Redmond

The beloved children’s author and illustrator of such time honored classics as The Tale of Peter Rabbit, has often been portrayed as shy and withdrawn. They say she was sweet natured, but lonely, with no close friends. So she turned to animals for companionship, all the while hating her London home, which was ruled by her overbearing parents.

But the truth of the matter is that her parents were no more overbearing than any other Victorian parents of their day. Although Beatrix was not outgoing, she was quite close with her younger brother and her grandparents. It’s true she preferred the country to the city. Each summer her father rented a home in the country so the family could spend time outdoors, taking long walks and puttering in the garden.

Yes, she loved animals, but did you know that occasionally when her pets died, she boiled their carcasses in a pot to strip away the meat and gristle so she could study their bones and sketch them? By the time she was eighteen, she’d made up her mind to be a painter. Her parents were not pleased. However, when her brother Bertram, eventually began earning his living as an artist, Mr. and Mrs. Potter were proud and thrilled. Bertram tried to introduce his talented sister to important art critics, but they were not interested in her paintings.

Beatrix was in her mid-thirties when she started writing “picture letters” to children of her acquaintance. No one would publish those either. Few people know that Miss Potter self-published The Tale of Peter Rabbit, draining her savings account to pay for 250 copies. At 47, she married William Heelis, a shy country solicitor and got what she wanted at last—she had her character Pigling Bland say it: “I wish I could have a little garden and grow potatoes.”

And those art critics? They’d be surprised, no doubt, to see Beatrix’s collection of exquisite mushroom and other fungi paintings on display today in the British Museum.

Beatrix’s favorite story of the ones she’d written was The Tailor of Gloucester, inspired by entries she’d discovered in her grandmother’s journal about clothing and customs of the day. My favorite is Squirrel Nutkin.

Do you have a favorite Potter tale?
 

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An award-winning writer and frequent conference speaker, Shirley Raye Redmond is the author of three inspirational novels, PRUDENCE PURSUED, VIPER’S NEST, and AMANDA’S BEAU, as well as two dozen children’s books, including LEWIS & CLARK: A PRAIRIE DOG FOR THE PRESIDENT (Random House), which was a Children’s Book of the Month Club selection. Touch bases at shirleyrayeredmond.com or Facebook