You’re probably familiar with Beatrix Potter’s work through her most famous creation, Peter Rabbit, a children’s book character known for his blue jacket and appetite for his crotchety old neighbor’s vegetable garden. Not only has his titular book been reprinted many times, multiple animated and/or live action movies and television shows have brought the naughty English bunny and his many friends to life. And QBO has so many collectables in our boutique – stuffies, puppets, stickers, coloring books, clothing, linens, kitchen wares and more so come on down!
Due to the simple, classic illustrations and text, it’s not readily apparent just how old this popular storybook actually is. First published professionally more than 100 years ago in 1902, it is Victorian. Successful in its own time, Peter Rabbit is still a bestseller and Potter, both author and illustrator, went on to create over 23 stories set in the same world, populating her rural English countryside with the multitude of both wild and domestic animals that lived there. They gracefully occupy an ambiguous area between animal and human behavior, wearing clothing, standing upright, living in little cottages and cooking at scaled down woodstoves, but also residing in dirt burrows and running around on all fours. They easily converse across species but less often with humans. The ‘world rules’ stay unexplained, neatly mimicking the way young readers tend to see things. The character’s foibles are based on Potter’s sly observations of friends and family, and on real animal behavior. Although no outright scary unpleasantness occurs, the predatory nature of animals such as foxes is acknowledged, as is the destructiveness of ‘pests’, such as when a pair of hungry, disgruntled mice trash a little girl’s prized dollhouse.
Although we might lump Potter’s work in with every other kid’s book featuring animals, it is unique in its literal accuracy. That hedgehog might be wearing a mobcap and apron, but she is drawn with scientific rigor – every animal is. They were meticulously sketched from life, with nothing (other than clothes and props) added. Thus, the happy bunny does not smile with a big, upturned mouth, instead each character’s feelings are conveyed by the real animals’ natural postures and subtle facial expressions. The same sharp observation is applied to the natural world; the plants are recognizable species from the English countryside, not generic vegetation.
This is because Beatrix Potter did not grow up with a desire to only be a children’s book author. Her lifelong interest was in biology, botany, and mycology (the study of fungus and mushrooms) and she had an undying ambition to do scientific work. If, in 1866 she had been born a boy, she might have succeeded but women were excluded from those professions at that time.
It’s easy to comfort ourselves thinking it was all for the best – that if Potter had been a scientist, generations of kids would have missed out on her endearing books – but a better tribute to her are the many biographies that acknowledge her real experiences and highlight her successes in her chosen field – i.e., her scientific illustrations of mushrooms are preserved today by the same Linnean Society that rejected publishing her scientific paper on them. And, as a role model, children’s biographies of Beatrix Potter are aimed at girls who share her scientific interests.
An enduring legacy Potter forged for herself later in life was buying up large swathes of English countryside before it was destroyed by encroaching industrialization. She left much of the Lake District to the National Trust as wild habitat, protecting the animals, plants, and fungi she loved.
Tuesday Treasures was started by our staff member, Jeanne Lusignan. Each week she will be featuring items that have been found at our estate sales. If you would like to submit a treasure for Jeanne to feature in a future installment of “Tuesday’s Treasures”, please follow the button below and send us an email! Please attach a few photos of your treasure in a beautiful setting as well as any details you have about your item such as manufacturer, use, age, region of origin. If you don’t know about the piece, that’s okay! We still might be able to research it for you! Don’t forget to tell us what makes this item such a treasure to you!