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Step into the whimsical world of Beatrix Potter, courtesy of these lovely vintage editions of her works. With the author's own beautiful illustrations and her particular attention to detail, Beatrix's books have continued to captivate young readers for generations since the first printings, bringing to life the enchanting world of Peter Rabbit, Jemima Puddle-Duck, Squirrel Nutkin and all her other beloved characters. Turning the pages of these vintage editions, you and your children will soon be immersed in a bygone era, where the simple pleasures of life - like gardening, baking and caring for animals - take centre stage.
In this article we hope to shine a light on some of the author's lesser-known works (though we did include Peter Rabbit, one has to include Peter Rabbit!).
It would be hard to commence any consideration of vintage Beatrix Potter books without starting with Peter Rabbit. Originally conceived by Beatrix Potter as a picture letter and sent to her former governess' eldest son Noël in 1893, The Tale of Peter Rabbit was to become one of the most important and enduring children's books of the 20th century. Beatrix had contacted several publishers with the idea for the book, but in the face of their lack of enthusiasm decided to have it privately printed. This edition proved such a success amongst her friends, family and others (including Sir Arthur Conan Doyle) that, within a week or two she requested a second printing be produced. At the same time the publisher Frederick Warne had reconsidered their position on publishing the work, maintaining the author's preferred format in regard to size and sticking with her preferred colour process. The book has of course proved a phenomenal success worldwide, translated into over 35 languages and selling over 45 million copies globally. This charming vintage edition of The Tale of Peter Rabbit is still in the same format as that first Warne edition of 1902.
Originally published in a folding-out concertina format, The Story of a Fierce Bad Rabbit was one of only two titles by Beatrix Potter aimed at younger children that were published in her lifetime (the other being The Story of Miss Moppet). Both titles were subsequently reissued in the same format as her other books, like the vintage edition here. The story of a Fierce Bad Rabbit was written for publisher Harold Warne's daughter, Louie, who had complained to the author that Peter Rabbit was much too good a rabbit, and she wanted a story about a really naughty one!
Although Beatrix had started work on Appley Dapply at the time Peter Rabbit came out, the book was not published until 1917, and was one of two collections of rhymes that she wrote & illustrated (the other being Cecily Parsley's Nursery Rhymes, published in 1922). The book built on Beatrix Potter's interest in traditional nursery rhymes and drew inspiration from the illustrations by Walter Crane and Randolph Caldecott that she'd enjoyed as a child - her father Rupert Potter had also been a keen collector of Caldecott's original drawings. The title character is a brown mouse who takes food out of a cupboard in someone else's house, shown on the cover artwork of this excellent vintage edition.
A fascinating Beatrix Potter book from a bibliographic perspective. The Fairy Caravan is a longer book, aimed at slightly older children. It was also primarily aimed at the US market, written by Beatrix Potter at the request of her American publisher David McKay, who published the first edition in 1929. However, in order to secure copyright in the UK 100 copies were produced with the first 9 leaves printed in Ambleside under the name Beatrix Heelis and without the preface written specifically for her American readers. The first British edition publicly available was not printed until 1952, which is the edition this vintage 1960s book is taken from. The story is about an enchanted miniature circus - William and Alexander’s Travelling Circus, which performed only for the animals of the farms and fields they passed, for magic ferseed in their hair shielded them from the eyes of humans.
A lesser known Beatrix Potter title, The Sly old Cat was written and illustrated in 1906 for Harold Warne's other daughter, Nellie, and originally intended to be in the same concertina format of Fierce Bad Rabbit and Miss Moppet, designed for younger children. Unfortunately however the bookshops had complained that this format, which came in a wallet style cloth binding with a fragile clasp, was either putting off potential buyers as they could not easily open it to see the contents, or was resulting in the books being damaged when they did! As a result The Sly Old Cat was shelved, so to speak, until being published in a standard format in 1971, almost 30 years after the author's death. The book features a foreword by the renowned Beatrix Potter scholar and bibliographer, Leslie Linder, and is considered "perfect in its fusion of word and picture, and visually reminiscent of Randolph Caldecott in its rhythmic narrative flow." (Beatrix Potter 1866–1943: The Artist and Her World)
The woeful tale of Tuppenny, the sparsely haired guinea-pig who became the innocent victim of the restorative powers of 'Quintessence of Abyssinian Artichokes', was written by Beatrix Potter in 1903 when her creativeness was at its best. Later it was recast as the opening chapter in The Fairy Caravan, but it is the original version which Marie Angel has illustrated here, and her fine and colourful pictures capture the liveliness of this piquant tale perfectly!
To amuse children she was particularly fond of, Beatrix Potter set up a correspondence in miniature between the characters in her little tales. Sometimes the animals wrote to the children in answer to a query; for instance one little boy thought that Mr. Jeremy Fisher ought to be married, to the horror of that independent gentleman, and proposed prickly Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle as a likely candidate! We also learn that Peter Rabbit was planning another raid on Mr. McGregor’s garden, that Mrs. McGregor couldn’t spell, that Squirrel Nutkin was desperate to get back his tail from Old Brown (who had eaten it), and that Tom Thumb alleged he had whipped Hunca Munca for defective housework! This charming compilation was first published in 1983.
Hopefully that list wasn't too soporific. Country House Library has a wealth of vintage editions of the works of Beatrix Potter, from the famous titles to the more obscure and uncommon ones, including the works published posthumously. We also have many titles in foreign languages, perfect for any young ones who are currently learning another language!
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