and everybody's favorite bunny
Beatrix Potter, The Tale of Peter Rabbit http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng...
to find the ebooks in the
University of Virginia eText Library http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/ebooks/sub... scroll to author's name
She was born in 1886 in the lake District to a rich Victorian family. Beatrix had a brother, Bertram, who later influenced her to break the parental noose to marry. Although often overlooked, she was a skilled draughtsman for botanical illustrations in an age when women were socially dismissed from scientific publications.
Women Illustrators: Beatrix Potter http://www.ortakales.com/illustrators/ in frames, click name oin left list
Potter, Helen Beatrix (mycologist, writer) http://www.astr.ua.edu/4000WS/POTTER.html
However, her fame accrued not from the precise sketches of plants, but from a book that was written for five-year-old invalid boy. She sent the copy to a friend, Rawnsley for review. He liked thhe pictures, but thought the text wanted improvement and volunteered his own. Beatrix declined and sent it to Frederick Warne & Co who also put the book on indefinite hold. Beatrix determined to bring out hr own book, published 450 privately. The rest became history as Warne became suitably interested to publish Nutkin Squirrel, Benjamin Rabbit and a few others.
The books have been a constant delight to children, perhaps because of the appealing size, exquisite illustrations on glossy papers and the witty text of the mischievous rabbit and his troubles. Few wabbits ever achieve such notoriety with the exception of Bugs Bunny brought out by Warner Bros on the old Saturday morning Bugs Bunny Show. For Christmas, there is the wonderful Velveteen Rabbit and then the Thornton Burgess series of Old Mother West Wind and the rolly-poly Peter Rabbit associated with Freddy Fox and friends at the Smiling Poool.
There's none though that has ever rivalled Beatrix Potter's the mischievous rabbit that lost his shoes and coat in Mr. MacGregor's garden and went to bed with a cold while Flopsy, Mopsy and Cottontail had fresh blackberries. The book is still as fresh and sweet as blackberries picked at the end of July or beginning of August although now over a hundred years old. Warne has kept the copyright, but there are a few illustrated ebooks available through the University of Virginia Library system in the online etext system.
In reality, Beatrix Potter had little outlet for enjoyment in her life as her parents not only isolated her in childhood, but also dominated her in adulthood with their demands. She remained single until forty-seven, caring for their needs when she finally hired a nurse to tend to her father. She became deeply involved in preserving the historical geography of the Lake District because she feared that modernizations and industrialization would destroy the environment, buying up large tracts o land for the National Trust. In doing so, she needed a solicitor to handle the properties and hired W. Heelis & Co to look after her interests. With her brother's support and encouragement, she broke away from her parents' control to marry William Heelis. They raised prized Herdwick sheep.
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