Beatrix discussing business with fellow farmers.
Beatrix with a party of Girl Guides.
She did not neglect the Girl Guides and continued to allow them to camp on her land whenever possible. Many of the children were from the city and had endured terror and destruction. They badly needed rest and country air. Some were not getting enough to eat, but Beatrix saw to it that they were fed and as comfortable as she could make them—provided they behaved of course! Once she took a party of Guides round Hill Top to see her treasures, and she much enjoyed the impromptu sing-song that followed.
On her seventy-seventh birthday in July 1943, the Girl Guides went to greet her at Castle Cottage dressed as characters from her books. The costumes had been hastily thrown together from old cereal packets and blankets, but the effect was very touching. Beatrix was obviously pleased by this tribute.
It was to be her last birthday. By September she was ill again with bronchitis. She kept indoors with her Pekes in her untidy, comfortable house, surrounded by her treasures and her clutter of papers.
She died on December 22, leaving a grieving William. Her ashes were scattered somewhere in the countryside at Sawrey by her loyal shepherd, Tom Storey. She had wanted the exact whereabouts kept secret. Even in death, she made sure that she kept the privacy that she had prized so much.
Beatrix at Hill Top aged 76, with a young friend, Alison Hart, and one of her Pekinese dogs.
A watercolour painting by Beatrix of the Lake District scenery under snow.
Beatrix once wrote, “ ‘Thank God I have the seeing eye”, that is to say, as I lie in bed I can walk step by step on the fells and rough lands seeing every stone and flower and patch of bog and cotton grass where my old legs will never take me again.’
It is not fanciful to assume that when she lay dying she walked through, in her mind, all the beautiful and tranquil places that she loved and cared for. As she drifted towards death, those pictures must have soothed and given peace to the spirit of this remarkable woman.
12
The Debt We Owe to Beatrix Potter
Today millions of people read Beatrix Potter’s books all over the world. The demand for them never diminishes. There is even an edition of The Tale of Peter Rabbit in Latin!
There have been books written about her—although it is only recently that the full story of her life has emerged—and books devoted to the study of her painting and the history of her writing.
Side by side with her books, a whole mini-industry produces Beatrix Potter merchandise. You can buy Beatrix Potter painting books, linen, stationery, china, board games, calendars and wall friezes. These are all carefully checked to make sure they are of the highest quality possible.
Some of the many items of merchandise decorated with Beatrix Potter characters that have been produced since her death.
In 1946 Hill Top was opened by the National Trust to the public, and thousands of admirers have been to see the place that symbolises the essential Beatrix Potter.
As a writer she continues to give untold pleasure, but she is also remembered as a countrywoman and farmer. In her will she left 4,000 acres of land to the National Trust to be preserved and maintained. Those who are lucky enough to benefit from this generosity, and from this far-sighted provision, will also be thankful to Beatrix Potter.
An illustration from The Fairy Caravan.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Judy Taylor for allowing me to read her book Beatrix Potter: Artist, Storyteller and Countrywoman (1986) before publication, and for generously permitting me to make use of her original material, with particular reference to the Warne financial collapse, Beatrix Potter’s relationship with the Girl Guides, and for information on Beatrix Potter’s husband and brother.
All extracts from Beatrix Potter’s journals and letters, and from Cousin Beatie by Ulla Hyde Parker, reprinted by kind permission of Frederick Warne.
The illustrations are printed by courtesy of the following: Armitt Trust, page 21; Girl Guides Association, page 70; Trustees of the Linder Collection, pages 14, 17, 36; National Art Library, Victoria & Albert Museum, pages 8, 11, 13, 18, 28 (above), 33 (above), 37, 44, 51, 52, 55, 66, 72; National Trust, pages 10, 20, 43, 54, 62; New York Public Library, page 56; Private Collections, pages 12, 16, 22, 30, 31, 38, 39, 67, 71; Robert Thrift, page 64; Frederick Warne, pages 19, 23, 24, 25, 28 (below), 29, 32, 33 (below), 35, 40, 41, 45, 46, 49, 53, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 63, 69, 73, 74, 75
I would also like to thank Emily Till, whose advice was much valued, Michelle Morris, Sally Floyer, Jennie Walters and Sue Twiselton.
The Original Peter Rabbit Books TM
by Beatrix Potter
1
The Tale of Peter Rabbit
2
The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin
3
The Tailor of Gloucester
4
The Tale of Benjamin Bunny
5
The Tale of Two Bad Mice
6
The Tale of Mrs Tiggy-Winkle
7
The Tale of Mr Jeremy Fisher
8
The Tale of Tom Kitten
9
The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck
10
The Tale of The Flopsy Bunnies
11
The Tale of Mrs Tittlemouse
12
The Tale of Timmy Tiptoes
13
The Tale of Johnny Town-Mouse
14
The Tale of Mr Tod
15
The Tale of Pigling Bland
16
The Tale of Samuel Whiskers or The Roly-Poly Pudding
17
The Tale of The Pie and The Patty-Pan
18
The Tale of Ginger and Pickles
19
The Tale of Little Pig Robinson
20
The Story of A Fierce Bad Rabbit
21
The Story of Miss Moppet
22
Appley Dapply’s Nursery Rhymes
23
Cecily Parsley’s Nursery Rhymes
(All published by Frederick Warne & Co.)
FREDERICK WARNE
Published by the Penguin Group
Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
Penguin Putnam Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA
Penguin Books Australia Ltd, Ringwood, Victoria, Australia
Penguin Books Canada Ltd, 10 Alcorn Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4V 3B2
Penguin Books India (P) Ltd, 11 Community Centre,
Panchsheel Park, New Delhi 110 017, India
Penguin Books (NZ) Ltd, Cnr Rosedale and Airborne Roads, Albany, Auckland, New Zealand
Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, P O Box 9, Parklands 2121, South Africa
Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
Web site at: www.peterrabbit.com
First published by Hamish Hamilton Children’s Books 1987
New edition published by Frederick Warne 1998
Text copyright © Elizabeth Buchan, 1987, 1998
New reproductions of Beatrix Potter’s book illustrations copyright © Frederick Warne & Co., 1987
Original copyright in Beatrix Potter’s illustrations © Frederick Warne & Co., 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904, 1905, 1908, 1909, 1913, 1917, 1922, 1929, 1930, 1932, 1941, 1946, 1955, 1966, 1971, 1972, 1985, 1987, 1989, 1993, 1998
Frederick Warne & Co. is the owner of all rights, copyrights and trademarks in the Beatrix Potter character names and illustrations.
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
ISBN: 978-0-72-32
6553-5
The Story of the Creator of Peter Rabbit Page 4
