Encyclopedia, Difference between revisions of "Beatrix Potter" - New World

From New World Encyclopedia
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In her will, Potter left almost all of her property to the National Trust — cottages, 15 farms, 4000 acres (16 km²) of land. The legacy ensured that the beauty of the [[Lake District]] and the practice of [[fell farming]] remain unspoiled today. Her legacy is now part of the [[Lake District National Park]].
 
In her will, Potter left almost all of her property to the National Trust — cottages, 15 farms, 4000 acres (16 km²) of land. The legacy ensured that the beauty of the [[Lake District]] and the practice of [[fell farming]] remain unspoiled today. Her legacy is now part of the [[Lake District National Park]].
  
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===Film and Ballet and further reading===
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===Film and ballet and further reading===
 
[[1971]] saw the release of ''The Tales of Beatrix Potter'' directed by Reginald Mills. Several of the 'Tales' were set to music and danced by the members of [[Royal Ballet, London|The Royal Ballet]] including Frederick Ashton who was also the choreographer. ''"The Tale of Pigling Bland"'' was turned into a musical theatrical production by Suzy Conn and was first performed July 6, 2006  at the Toronto Fringe Festival in [[Toronto]], [[Canada]].
 
[[1971]] saw the release of ''The Tales of Beatrix Potter'' directed by Reginald Mills. Several of the 'Tales' were set to music and danced by the members of [[Royal Ballet, London|The Royal Ballet]] including Frederick Ashton who was also the choreographer. ''"The Tale of Pigling Bland"'' was turned into a musical theatrical production by Suzy Conn and was first performed July 6, 2006  at the Toronto Fringe Festival in [[Toronto]], [[Canada]].
  
 
In 1982 the BBC produced ''The Tale of Beatrix Potter''. This dramatization of her life was written by John Hawkesworth and directed by Bill Hayes. It starred Holly Aird and Penelope Wilton as the young Beatrix and adult Beatrix, respectively.  
 
In 1982 the BBC produced ''The Tale of Beatrix Potter''. This dramatization of her life was written by John Hawkesworth and directed by Bill Hayes. It starred Holly Aird and Penelope Wilton as the young Beatrix and adult Beatrix, respectively.  
  
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Contemporary author Susan Wittig Albert published a series of mysteries featuring a fictionalized Beatrix Potter, focusing on the period of her life between her fiance's death and her eventual establishment as a farmer in Sawrey, Lancashire. In 2006, Penguin Books published ''"Beatrix Potter: A Life in Nature"'', a new biography by Linda Lear which emphasizes Potter's scientific accomplishments both as a botanical artist and as an amateur mycologist.
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In 2006, author Susan Wittig Albert published ''The Tale of Cuckoo Brow Wood (Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter Mysteries)'' a series of mysteries featuring a fictionalized Beatrix Potter, focusing on the period of her life between her fiance's death and her eventual establishment as a farmer in Sawrey, Lancashire.  
  
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''Miss Potter (film)|Miss Potter]]'', a [[biopic]] movie starring [[Renee Zellwegger]], will be released on [[29 December]], [[2006]].
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Also in 2006, Penguin Books published ''"Beatrix Potter: A Life in Nature"'', a new biography by Linda Lear which emphasizes Potter's scientific accomplishments both as a botanical artist and as an amateur mycologist.
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In 2007, ''Miss Potter'', a biopic movie starring [[Renee Zellwegger]], was released.
  
 
===Places to visit===
 
===Places to visit===
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==Quotations==
 
==Quotations==
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''"I remember I used to half believe and wholly play with fairies when I was a child. What heaven can be more real than to retain the spirit-world of childhood, tempered and balanced by knowledge and common-sense.."'' - Beatrix Potter’s Journal, [[17 November]], [[1896]] from the National Trust collection
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''"I remember I used to half believe and wholly play with fairies when I was a child. What heaven can be more real than to retain the spirit-world of childhood, tempered and balanced by knowledge and common-sense..?"'' - Beatrix Potter’s Journal, November 17, 1896 from the National Trust collection.
  
 
==List of some of the works by (Helen) Beatrix Potter==
 
==List of some of the works by (Helen) Beatrix Potter==

Revision as of 00:12, 1 January 2007

Potter's illustration of her anthropomorphic rabbits — in this case the married cousins, Benjamin and Flopsy Bunny (with Peter Rabbit in the background), from The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies

Beatrix Potter, or Helen Beatrix Potter (July 28, 1866 - December 22, 1943) was an English children's book author and illustrator. Her books, now classics, were unique in that she did all of her own illustrations. She took the genre of Children's literature to a new level through her highly accurate and detailed drawings of woodland animals. She insisted that her books be miniatures to fit chidren's smaller hands' size, while at the same time employing more sophisticated vocabularly and realistic siutations in order to challenge children's reading ability. Potter was a complex person who lived the sheltered life of a victorian. She wrote her journals in a secret code that was not deciphered until after her death. She is probably best remembered for the notoriously, mischievious and well loved character, "Peter Rabbit."

Biography

A Victorian Childhood

Potter was born in Kensington, London in 1866. Her parents, Rupert Potter, a nonpracticing barrister, and Helen (Leech) Potter lived on their inheritance from the Lanchashire cotton industry. She was educated at home by a succession of governesses and had little contact with other children. In later years, she would prove to be reticent around adults, while displaying a natural affinity for children. Her joy in the birth of a younger brother, Bertam, was augmented by happy times together searching for fossils and keeping pets. They spent hours exploring the woods, even collecting and dissecting animal skeletons. The siblings kept various pet animals: frogs, newts and even a bat. It was her keen scientific observations that first drew Beatrix towards her talent for drawing.

During summers the family would rent a country house, in the early years in Scotland, and then later in the English Lake District. In 1882 the family met the local vicar, Canon Rawnsley, who was deeply worried about the effects of industry and tourism on the Lake District. He would later found the National Trust in 1895, to help protect the countryside. Potter had immediately fallen in love with the rugged mountains and dark lakes, and through Rawnsley, learned of the importance of trying to conserve the region, something that was to stay with her for the rest of her life.

Scientific Pursuits

When she came of age, her parents appointed her their housekeeper and discouraged any intellectual development, instead requiring her to supervise the household.

An uncle attempted to introduce her as a student at the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew, but she was rejected because she was female. Potter was later one of the first to suggest that lichens were a symbiotic relationship between fungi and algae[1], but her one attempt to publish was thwarted. Her uncle had to read her paper at the scientific society because they did not admit females. At the time the only way to record microscopic images was by painting them; her pictures of fungi were widely admired.

The Tale of Peter Rabbit

The basis of her many projects and stories were the small animals that she smuggled into the house or observed during family holidays in Scotland and the Lake District. She was encouraged to publish her story, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, but she struggled to find a publisher until it was accepted when she was 36 in 1902, by Frederick Warne & Company. The small book and her following works were extremely well received and she gained an independent income from the sales. She also became secretly engaged to the publisher, Norman Warne, but her parents were set against her marrying anyone who worked for a living. He died before the wedding, causing a breach between Beatrix and her parents.

Potter eventually wrote 23 books. These were published in a small format, easy for a child to hold and read. Her writing efforts abated around 1920 due to poor eyesight, though her last major work, The Tale of Little Pig Robinson, was published in 1930.

Hilltop Farm and land conservation

After the death of Warne, Potter purchased Hill Top Farm in the village of Sawrey, Lancashire, in the Lake District. She loved the landscape, and would visit the farm as often as she could, discussing the set-up with farm manager John Cannon[2]. With the steady stream of royalties from her books, she began to buy pieces of land under the guidance of local solicitor William Heelis. In 1913 at age 47, Potter married Heelis and moved to Hill Top farm permanently from London - the couple had no children.

Some of her best loved works show the farm house and the village, and the farm was constantly alive with dogs, cats and even a pet hedgehog, naturally enough named "Mrs Tiggywinkle". On moving to the Lake District, Potter become engrossed in breeding and showing Herdwick sheep. She became a respected farmer, a judge at local agricultural shows, and President of the Herdwick Sheep Breeders’ Association. When her parents died, she used the funds to buy more farms and tracks of land. After some years Potter and Heelis later moved down into the village of Sawrey, and into Castle Cottage - where the local children knew her for her grumpy demeanour, and called her "Auld Mother Heelis"[3].

She died at Castle Cottage in Sawrey, on 22 December, 1943. Cremated, her ashes were scattered in the countryside near Sawrey[4].

Legacy and the secret code journals

In her will, Potter left almost all of her property to the National Trust — cottages, 15 farms, 4000 acres (16 km²) of land. The legacy ensured that the beauty of the Lake District and the practice of fell farming remain unspoiled today. Her legacy is now part of the Lake District National Park.

Film and ballet and further reading

1971 saw the release of The Tales of Beatrix Potter directed by Reginald Mills. Several of the 'Tales' were set to music and danced by the members of The Royal Ballet including Frederick Ashton who was also the choreographer. "The Tale of Pigling Bland" was turned into a musical theatrical production by Suzy Conn and was first performed July 6, 2006 at the Toronto Fringe Festival in Toronto, Canada.

In 1982 the BBC produced The Tale of Beatrix Potter. This dramatization of her life was written by John Hawkesworth and directed by Bill Hayes. It starred Holly Aird and Penelope Wilton as the young Beatrix and adult Beatrix, respectively.

In 2006, author Susan Wittig Albert published The Tale of Cuckoo Brow Wood (Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter Mysteries) a series of mysteries featuring a fictionalized Beatrix Potter, focusing on the period of her life between her fiance's death and her eventual establishment as a farmer in Sawrey, Lancashire.

Also in 2006, Penguin Books published "Beatrix Potter: A Life in Nature", a new biography by Linda Lear which emphasizes Potter's scientific accomplishments both as a botanical artist and as an amateur mycologist.

In 2007, Miss Potter, a biopic movie starring Renee Zellwegger, was released.

Places to visit

There are several locations open to the general public displaying works of Beatrix Potter, mainly in the Hawkshead area of the Lake District, including:

  • Hill-Top Farm - open to the public, but for a limited number of vistors per day. It has been restored to exactly the condition as it was when Beatrix lived there.
  • The Beatrix Potter Gallery - in Hawkshead village, shows a number of original letters and drawings.
  • The Beatrix Potter Attraction - displays a collection of models and displays of Beatrix's work, in Windermere village
  • The Beatrix Potter Garden - at Dunkeld House in Perthshire, Scotland, now home to the Birnam Institute, has gardens recreating Beatrix's tales and exhibitions throughout the summer

Quotations

"I remember I used to half believe and wholly play with fairies when I was a child. What heaven can be more real than to retain the spirit-world of childhood, tempered and balanced by knowledge and common-sense..?" - Beatrix Potter’s Journal, November 17, 1896 from the National Trust collection.

List of some of the works by (Helen) Beatrix Potter

Further Reading

  • Lane, Margaret. The Tale of Beatrix Potter. rev. ed. London: Frederick Warne & Co., 1968
  • Linder, Leslie. The Journal of Beatrix Potter from 1881 to 1896, Transcribed from Her Code Writing. London and New York, Warne, 1966.
  • The Art of Beatrix Potter: Direct Reproductions of Beatrix Potter's Preliminary Studies and Finished Drawings, Also Examples of Her Original Manuscript. edited by Leslie Linder and W.A. Herring. London and New York, Warne, 1955, rev.ed. 1972.

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  1. ↑ http://www.sciencemusings.com/2006/10/sharp-and-half-sharp_29.html
  2. ↑ http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-chl/w-places_collections/w-collections-main/w-collections-beatrix_potter/w-collections-feature_1-2.htm
  3. ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A642151
  4. ↑ http://www.britainunlimited.com/Biogs/Potter.htm

External links

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