The Prequel to Peter Rabbit

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     Everything has a beginning, even books that seem to have been around forever. When we learn more about the author behind a certain book, we begin to understand a little more about the book. We’ll understand where it came from—the prequel of the book, if you will.

     Despite her adorable, simple stories, the author behind one of the most well-known series of children’s books in the world led a very difficult, sometimes lonely life. Helen Beatrix Potter was born on July 28 of 1866, to Rupert and Helen Potter, her wealthy parents. Even before she showed any interest in artistic pastimes, her family loved them. Because Beatrix’s family was well-off, she and her parents had the time and money to indulge in such things that helped shape who she was to become. However, despite the fact that she was well-off, she led a very lonely life until she became a published author.

     One way her family’s wealth was a blessing was in the summer holidays she, her younger brother Bertram, and her parents took every year for the first fifteen years of her life. Away from the crowds and rules of London, it was here that Beatrix really flourished. She loved the country, drawing and painting anything that interested her. Observing nature was her forte and she became a very observant child.

     Because she didn’t have a close friend, she shared everything she had found in her diary. Here, she wrote in tiny letters so that they were almost impossible to read. She also wrote in code, using a letter-for-letter substitution that she had made. It wasn’t even until the 1990s that people cracked the code. 

     Despite her visits to the countryside, Beatrix was still lonely. Her mother, Helen, was a strict woman, always worried about germs and other dirty little children. Because of this, the two young Potters never were allowed to hang around other people their age.

     As Beatrix grew up, she began studying drawings of bugs and animals and plants in her father’s books. She enjoyed copying these and getting them as close to the pictures as she could. When she was old enough, her parents' wealth came in handy again when they sent her to the South Kensington Museum to take art lessons. Beatrix received good grades in all her courses.

     Around this time, when she was seventeen years old, she finally found the type of friend she had always yearned for. It all began when Helen Potter decided Beatrix needed another governess. To tell the truth, Beatrix wasn’t happy about it—not until she met the governess herself. Annie Carter was just three years older than Beatrix but she had traveled as a student and had lived in Germany. It didn’t take long for the two to strike up a very close friendship. However, Beatrix’s closeness with Annie was shattered when a Mr. Moore proposed to her governess and Annie accepted. Even though Annie made Beatrix promise to visit often, Beatrix knew her parents wouldn’t like her to go as often as she wanted. To make matters worse, Bertram had left to pursue his own life. He had moved to Scotland where he became an artist who painted landscapes. Beatrix felt left behind and useless. She wasn’t allowed to get a job; her parents would never agree to it and, as time went on, she wondered if she would ever have a family of her own. 

     It turned out that she was able to go visit Annie and her family and, to get away from her home, Beatrix went as often as possible. Annie had a happy household, and they helped her forget her troubles. When Annie wrote to tell Beatrix that one of her daughters, Noel, was ill, Beatrix wrote back with a story for Noel. This story, as you probably guessed, was the very beginning of Peter Rabbit, the most famous rabbit in the world.

     Beatrix was delighted with Noel’s reception of the letter and, the very next day, wrote another one for Noel’s younger brother so that he wouldn’t feel left out. This story was “The Tale of Jeremy Fisher.” Hope kindled in Beatrix’s mind as she saw how much children enjoyed her tales. So, in December of 1901, she self-published Peter Rabbit and sold a few copies to a bookstore. These copies sold quickly and the store asked for more. Beatrix printed more but began to wonder if she could actually publish the stories with a real company.

     When Fredrick Warne & Co, a publishing company run by three brothers, agreed to publish her book, Beatrix was overjoyed. She finally was finding her place in the world. She had a respectable “job” and would finally be independent. As she and Norman Warne, the youngest of the three brothers who ran the company, worked on her book, changing the pictures into color and designing the book, the two began to develop a cautious courtship. 

    Then, in October 1902, Peter Rabbit was published. By the end of that year, twenty-eight thousand copies of the story had been sold. Beatrix had found her niche. As Norman Warne and she continued to work on her book, they fell in love and were engaged. However, he died tragically while she was away in the countryside.

     Fraught with grief, Beatrix finally left her home, using the money she had from her books to buy a house in the country. It was called Hill Top farm. Here, she eased herself back into her writing, reveling in the beauty of the Lake District and helping to wash away her pain. She also raised prize-winning sheep.

     Surprisingly enough, love had not left her life and, eight years later, she married a local lawyer named Willie Heelis. They lived at Hill Top Farm and though being a farmer was a lot of hard work and left little time for writing and painting, Beatrix enjoyed it.

     For thirty-eight years, she lived at Hill Top Farm, writing, painting and living in the nature she had always loved. Though her life’s story does not start out in the happiest way, Beatrix found the thing she most cared about: purpose. When she died in 1943, she left behind a world that will never die.

     Though Beatrix started out as a lonely child, aching for friends and purpose, today, she may be the most beloved author of young children. Generation after generation is introduced to Peter Rabbit and his friends and, as the world is sorely in need of beautiful stories, I hope it may long continue. 

Bibliography:

Fabiny, Sarah. Who Was Beatrix Potter? New York: Grosset and Dunlap, 2015. Print.

McGreevy, Nora. “Leap into the Surprising, Art-filled Life of Beatrix Potter in a New Exhibition.” smithsonianmag.com. SmithsonianMagazine, 28 Mar 2022. Web. 30 Apr 2024.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Beatrix Potter.” britannica.com. Britannica, 2 Apr 2024. Web. 30 Apr 2024.