Fun Facts Friday: Beatrix Potter

Beatrix Potter (28 July, 1866 – 22 December, 1943) was a British writer and scientist who is known for her children’s books featuring animals.

Beatrix Potter, 2012, Olivia Waste – Image from Art Now and Then
Books by Beatrix Potter*

1)      Born in South Kensington, London to a wealthy family, young Ms. Potter lived a very comfortable early life.

2)      Ms. Potter was very interested in nature, she was a curious botanist, collected fossils and was able to expertly draw fungi.

3)    One of her pet rabbits was called Benjamin Bouncer.

4)      Not surprisingly, the young Ms. Potter was an avid reader. Some of the books she enjoyed were The Water Babies by Charles Kingsley, the Brer Rabbit stories by Joel Chandler Harris, and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.

5)      When on vacation,, Ms. Potter used to send letters with stories and illustrations to the children of her former nanny. One of those letters formed the basis of The Tale of Peter Rabbit.

6)      The first “Tales series” books was published in 1902, the author published 22 more books (for a total of 23).

7)      Ms. Potter was a savvy businesswoman, she designed and sold the rights for merchandising of her books.

8)      Even though she was born in a big city, Ms. Potter loved rural living and village life.

9)      One of her interests as breeding Herdwick sheep. She was even elected President of the Herdwick Sheepbreeder’s Association, but passed away before she could take on the position.

10)      She left all her property (16 farms, many cottages and 4,000 acres) to the National Trust. Her home, Hill Top Farm, is now opened to the public.

 

Books by Beatrix Potter*

Zohar — Man of la Book
*Ama­zon links point to an affil­i­ate account