Beatrix Potter

The movie "Miss Potter" is scheduled to be released on DVD on June 19th. I never got a chance to see this movie in the theatre and I'm really looking forward to seeing it when it comes out next week. I have been interested in Beatrix Potter for years and have read several very interesting books on her life. Beatrix is, of course, famous for her tales about charming life-like animals.

Beatrix started drawing at a very early age and never stopped. She was very involved in the process of publishing her books and consulted with her publishers on nearly every decision that was made. She was meticulous about her drawings and would sometimes redo them 20 times or more until they were just right. The words in her books were also painstakingly thought out by Beatrix and nothing was published until she had given the final approval.

Here is a picture of Beatrix when she was about 15 years old. The vast majority of the animals featured in her books were actual animals that Beatrix owned. She was an avid animal lover and a great naturalist. Peter was indeed her rabbit and she owned the mouse Hunca Munca, as well as Mrs. Tiggy Winkle the hedgehog and many other of the charming animals she wrote about. She loved animals and owning them gave her a great resource for studying them when she was drawing her illustrations.

Here is a picture of Beatrix with her beloved rabbit Peter on a leash.

Beatrix with her husband William Heelis. Heelis was a local solicitor who advised Beatrix on her property dealings in the Lake District. Beatrix accepted his marriage proposal at the age of 47 after her soon to be husband, publisher Norman Warne, tragically died. Beatrix was an avid conservationist and dedicated her later years to preserving the ecology and natural beauty of the Lake District where she lived. Beatrix worked closely with The National Trust and left them a substantial part of her estate to be preserved as a living landscape. Her farm is still operational with a young couple taking on the task of preserving her way of life.

The elderly Beatrix Potter who was beloved by so many. People everywhere were enchanted by her charming stories of rabbits, ducks, mice and other sweet farm and woodland creatures. If you would like to know more about the incredible life of Beatrix Potter, there are several good books that you can read. One of my favorites is "Beatrix Potter's Letters". It is a large book containing hundreds of letters to her publisher, family and friends during her lifetime. Reading this book will give you an insight to what an amazing and complex woman she really was.