The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter was originally rejected by various publishers. Beatrix Potter was a natural scientists, conservationist and writer and illustrator. The Tale of Peter Rabbit is her first commercially published work. While it doesn't list her as an entrepreneur, she had Peter Rabbit made into a patented stuffed toy, the oldest licensed character. In all, Potter wrote over sixty books.
She purchased land in the Lake District that became the Lake District National Park after her death. In total, 15 farms and 1600 hectares of nature were donated to the National Trust. She was an accomplished scientist, farmer, sheep breeder and conservationist.
One of her passions was mycology - fungi or mushrooms. While women weren't allowed to go to university, she studied privately under the guidance of Charles McIntosh, a revered naturalist and mycologist. She made microscopic drawings of fungus spores and developed a theory of their germination. In order for her work to be published, she had to have her paper introduced by a man, although she withdrew it. She was not allowed to attend the proceedings or read her paper so the plan was for someone to represent it for her. The paper has been recently rediscovered, and is being scientifically evaluated. She produced many scientific drawings and they are in Museum and Art Gallery collections.
Peter Rabbit is the first of "The 23 Tales". There is such a delight in the names of these books and characters - what a charmed imagination she had.- The Tale of Peter Rabbit (privately printed, 250 copies, 1901)
- The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin (1903)
- The Tailor of Gloucester (1903)
- The Tale of Benjamin Bunny (1904)
- The Tale of Two Bad Mice (1904)
- The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle (1905)
- The Tale of the Pie and the Patty-Pan (1905)
- The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher (1906)
- The Story of a Fierce Bad Rabbit (1906)
- The Story of Miss Moppet (1906)
- The Tale of Tom Kitten (1907)
- The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck (1908)
- The Tale of Samuel Whiskers or, The Roly-Poly Pudding (1908)
- The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies (1909)
- The Tale of Ginger and Pickles (1909)
- The Tale of Mrs. Tittlemouse (1910)
- The Tale of Timmy Tiptoes (1911)
- The Tale of Mr. Tod (1912)
- The Tale of Pigling Bland (1913)
- Appley Dapply's Nursery Rhymes (1917)
- The Tale of Johnny Town-Mouse (1918)
- Cecily Parsley's Nursery Rhymes (1922)
- The Tale of Little Pig Robinson (1930)
It is the Lily Show this weekend. Here's the how to grow lilies book with one of my pictures of Brian's Lilycrest Gardens field on the cover. |
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