Potter assuaged her grief by buying a farm-a courageous assertion of personal freedom and emotional independence. The two exchanged rings, but were not permitted to make any public announcement, which helped Potter's parents deny the engagement altogether when, just a month after the betrothal, Norman Warne suddenly died of undiagnosed leukaemia. Tensions erupted when, at the age of 39, she and Warne became secretly engaged. In an age when filial duty was a point of pride, especially for daughters, this was especially hurtful. This made her rich and helped create the first of the great children's brands that flourish today, foreshadowing the global profile of Babar, Walt Disney and Harry Potter.Īny satisfaction Potter's parents might have felt at their daughter's achievements was diminished by constant nagging that she preferred her work to caring for them. She was actively involved in the merchandising of her characters-from an early stage there were wallpapers, china tea sets, figurines, a Jemima Puddle-Duck doll and wooden-jointed rabbits. With her editor, Norman Warne, she paid particular attention to matching the words to the drawings, and ensuring that each detail was as vivid and as well drawn as could be. Contrary to the fashion of the day, she insisted that her books be small and cheap. Potter was also possessed of an unusual vision. The quality of her work is still striking more than a century later. “I don't know what to write to you,” she told her young pen pal, Noel Moore, whom she knew was sick in bed and needed cheering up, “so I shall tell you a story about four little rabbits whose names were-Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail, and Peter.” It was two of these, written within the same week in September 1893, that eventually became “The Tale of Peter Rabbit” and “The Tale of Jeremy Fisher”. She was a frequent visitor to the Natural History Museum near the family home in South Kensington, and devoted much of her time to drawing animals from life, principally her pets, whose antics she liked to turn into illustrated letters to the children of her nanny. With the aid of private tutors, she became fluent in French and German, showed an early talent for drawing which was encouraged by a family friend, Sir John Everett Millais, and eagerly pursued the passion of the day, natural history. Like many Victorian parents, the Potters did not believe in female education either, despite young Beatrix's obvious intelligence.
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