An archive of early drawings and letters by children’s author Beatrix Potter have emerged for sale for £250,000.
The charming illustrations date from the 1890s when the writer was honing her craft and had not yet become a household name.
One drawing from 1894 shows Peter Rabbit seven years before the first of his famous tales was published.
The charming illustrations date from the 1890s when the writer was honing her craft and had not yet become a household name. Here, a 4.5ins by 3.5ins drawing showing two rabbits, including Peter Rabbit, in a sledging mishap from 1894
The collection features drawings of characters from one of Potter’s favourite childhood tales, Edward Lear’s ‘The Owl and the Pussy Cat’. On one page of her letter she drew an owl, guitar in hand, at sea with the pussy cat as she pays homage to the quirky plot
One of the most interesting items is a charming eight-page picture letter Potter sent to her young cousin Molly Gaddum in 1897.
Pictured in 1892 Beatrix Potter British author and illustrator of children’s books, including ‘The Tale of Peter Rabbit’
It features drawings of characters from one of Potter’s favourite childhood tales, Edward Lear’s ‘The Owl and the Pussy Cat’.
Potter fell in love with the poem as a four-year-old when she didn’t have many close friends, but her family allowed her to keep a menagerie of animals including rabbits and mice.
It was so important to her she even wrote a prequel to the tale, ‘The Tale of Little Pig Robinson’.
On one page of her letter she drew an owl, guitar in hand, at sea with the pussy cat as she pays homage to the quirky plot.
Opposite it, Potter, who was aged 31 at the time, wrote: ‘It is odd to see an owl with hands, but how could he play the guitar without them.’
Other illustrations in the letter show a pig providing a ring for the owl, and the owl getting married to the cat.
The letter is expected to fetch £50,000 alone.
In total, 20 of Potter’s original drawings and letters are going under the hammer with US-based Doyle Auctions.
Another item is a 4.5ins by 3.5ins drawing showing two rabbits, including Peter Rabbit, in a sledging mishap in 1894 carries the same estimate.
A 1899 drawing of Bunny entitled ‘In a Red Jacket Shovelling Snow’ is valued at £25,000.
In total, 20 of Potter’s original drawings and letters are going under the hammer with US-based Doyle Auctions. The letter is expected to fetch £50,000 alone
The collection also features Potter’s personal first edition issue of The Tailor of Gloucester (1902), as well as other signed first editions of her works
Two watercolours on silk, which are thought to date from 1901 to 1905, recreate scenes from The Tale of Petter Rabbit.
Other illustrations in the letter show a pig providing a ring for the owl, and the owl getting married to the cat
The first depicts Mrs Rabbit buttoning Peter’s coat, while the second is of Mrs Rabbit with a basket and umbrella in a forest.
It is accompanied with the text: ‘Then old Mrs Rabbit took a basket and her umbrella, and went through the woods to the baker’s. She bought a loaf of brown bread and five currant buns.’
The two lots are expected to sell for a combined £50,000.
The latest items in the collection are four picture letters Potter sent to a Master Jack Ripley in 1908 and 1909.
They have been signed from Peter Rabbit, Benjamin Bunny, Josephine Rabbit, and Mr McGregor.
Ripley had a deformity in his hands and had a very stern father, so Potter, who did not have children of her own, wanted to lift his spirits. They are valued at £32,000.
The collection also features Potter’s personal first edition issue of The Tailor of Gloucester (1902), as well as other signed first editions of her works.
The items have been consigned from the Mary K Young Collection, which was amassed by her in the late 1980s and ’90s.
Peter Costanzo, specialist at Doyle Auctions, said: ‘Part of the charm of this early period is that Potter apparently did not intend to publish books for children.
Beatrix Potter (right) pictured with her dog Spot and her cousin, Miss Leech (seated). The drawings and letters on sale primarily date from the 1890s when she was not yet a household name
Beatrix Potter (left) pictured with her father Rupert and brother Bertram in 1886. One drawing on sale, from 1894, shows Peter Rabbit seven years before the first of his famous tales was published
Beatrix Potter (stood centre) pictured with her father Rupert (right) and brother Bertram (left). The pictures and letters on sale are dated from when she was still honing her craft as a young writer
‘She simply sought a simple and affectionate way to communicate with them, and in combining an early mastery of the drawing of animals and a playful love of verse, Potter created a style all her own.
‘This is truly an insightful, important and whimsical group, one of the finest collections of early Beatrix Potter artwork and it represents a rare opportunity for collectors and institutions alike.’
Potter published 23 books in all, finishing with Cecily Parsley’s Nursery Rhymes (1922), a collection of her favourite rhymes.
Her most famous book, The Tale of Petter Rabbit (1901), has been translated into 36 languages and sold 45 million copies.
She died aged 77 in 1943. The online sale ends on April 22.
‘The Owl and the Pussycat’ was so important to her she even wrote a prequel to the tale, ‘The Tale of Little Pig Robinson’ (right). Potter fell in love with the poem as a four-year-old when she didn’t have many close friends, but her family allowed her to keep a menagerie of animals including rabbits and mice.
One of the most interesting items is a charming eight-page picture letter Potter sent to her young cousin Molly Gaddum in 1897. The items have been consigned from the Mary K Young Collection, which was amassed by her in the late 1980s and ’90s
The nature lover, author and artist who charmed generations of children with her literary creations inspired by her pet rabbits
Helen Beatrix Potter was born in Kensington, London, in 1866. Here she is photographed in the 1890s
Helen Beatrix Potter was born in Kensington, London, in 1866. Both she and her younger brother, Walter Bertram, loved drawing and made sketches of their various pets – including her two pet rabbits, Benjamin Bouncer and Peter Piper. Benjamin went for walks on a lead on Potter family holidays, and Peter went with Beatrix everywhere and even performed tricks. Her parents took the children on holiday to Scotland and Wray Castle near Lake Windermere, where she discovered her love of the countryside.
Beatrix never went to school but her parents, Rupert and Helen, hired an art teacher named Miss Cameron and several governesses to teach her. She later studied fungi at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Kew where she became an excellent scientific illustrator. Beatrix used these skills to illustrate her favourite stories before creating greeting-card designs for the publisher Hildesheimer & Faulkner. She became engaged to Norman Warne, the editor at the publishing house, but he died from leukemia just a month later.
In 1893, Beatrix wrote the Tale of Peter Rabbit for Noel Moore, the five-year-old son of her former governess Annie Carter Moore. She struggled to find a publisher who would accept the work and instead self-published in 1901. It was finally published commercially in 1902 by Frederick Warne & Co. after she reillustrated the book in colour.
Beatrix went on to write 23 books about Peter Rabbit which were incredibly popular and enabled her to buy hundreds of acres of farmland. In particular, she bought several properties in the Lake District – where she met solicitor William Heelis, who she married in 1913. They stayed together until her death in 1943.
Source: peterrabbit.com