The story of Beatrix Potter
Born in 1866 to parents descended from wealthy cotton-millers, Beatrix Potter kept a menagerie of pets for company. She taught herself to draw and paint by watching her animals and sketching them.
Her lifelong love of the natural world was instilled at an early age from the Potter family's habit of taking long summer holidays in the countryside - Dalguise in Scotland and the Lake District which she was strongly associated with in her later life.

Beatrix & Peter Rabbit
When Beatrix was 27 she wrote an illustrated letter about her pet rabbit to a little boy called Noel Moore, the son of an ex-governess. Some years later she sent the manusсript to 6 publishers, who all turned it down. She decided to pay to publish the story herself.
Eventually, publishers Frederick Warne looked at the book again and offered to take it on. In October 1902, The Tale of Peter Rabbit was published commercially for the first time. 8,000 copies were printed and the long partnership between Beatrix Potter and Frederick Warne began.
Beatrix was a regular visitor to her publisher's Covent Garden offices to discuss her books, and most of her dealings were with Norman, her editor.

Beatrix's success
Beatrix had been planning to publish her second book, The Tailor of Gloucester, privately. She sent a copy to Norman, who suggested it be a follow up to The Tale of Peter Rabbit.
Warne published The Tailor of Gloucester and The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin for Christmas 1903. The original story of Squirrel Nutkin had been sent in a letter to Norah Moore, Noel's sister and was borrowed back to create the new book.
By the end of 1903 over 50,000 copies of The Tale of Peter Rabbit had been sold. Beatrix also developed a Peter Rabbit doll and board game. Between them, Beatrix and Norman decided that her next book should be a story about Peter's cousin, Benjamin Bunny.
Norman had made a dolls house for his niece which was to become the inspiration for Beatrix's fifth book, The Tale of Two Bad Mice. He invited her to draw the house but she declined as her mother disapproved of Beatrix visiting her publisher's relations. Norman helped by sending pictures and buying her dolls and miniature furniture to use as models.
The Tale of Benjamin Bunny and The Tale of Two Bad Mice were published in September 1904. Beatrix went on to publish The Tale of Mrs Tiggy-Winkle inspired by Beatrix's own pet hedgehog, Mrs Tiggy. Potter described her as 'a dear person, just like a very fat, rather stupid little dog'. And after that came The Tale of the Pie and the Patty-Pan about a cat inviting a dog to tea.

Romance & heartbreak
Beatrix came to rely on Norman's advice and support and their friendship grew stronger. On 25 July 1905, Norman wrote to Beatrix asking her to marry him - even though they had never once been alone together. Beatrix's parents weren’t happy that about her marring 'into trade' and tried to deter her.
Beatrix was determined to marry Norman, but sadly the wedding was not to be. Soon after the engagement, Norman fell ill and died of pernicious anaemia within a few weeks. Beatrix was devastated. She wrote in a letter to his sister, Millie, 'He did not live long, but he fulfilled a useful happy life. I must try to make a fresh beginning next year'.
After Norman's death Beatrix continued to work on her books, and eventually there were 23 volumes of stories and rhymes. Using her royalties she had bought a small Lake District farm called Hill Top just before Norman's death, and over the next few years spent a lot of time there, which greatly influenced her work.
At the age of 47, Beatrix married William Heelis, a local solicitor. She lived the remainder of her life in the Lake District farming and breeding the local Herdwick sheep - frequently winning prizes for her flocks.
She continued to buy property and land. On her death in 1943, she gave 14 farms and over 4,000 acres of Lake District farmland to the National Trust so the place she loved would remain undeveloped and dedicated to traditional farming methods to protect it for posterity.

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Почему-то ужасно не люблю Беатрикс и её кроликов в жилетках. Наверное, потому что мне никогда не нравились истории про сильно антропоморфированных зверей с весьма человеческой моралью - будь то русские народные сказки или Беатрикс Поттер. Хотя верю, что Рене в этой роли хороша. Может быть, посмотрела бы с тобой за компанию :-)