It was Norman who insisted that the plates for the Warne editions of Peter Rabbit would still be in colour. He was determined to make a success of the book and developed a good working relationship with Beatrix as they pored over the individual details of the book. However, Norman proved to be a good choice. The Warnes did not have much hope it would sell many copies they actually gave the project to their youngest brother, Norman, as a kind of test for his first project. were so impressed they decided to take a chance on the budding author, now 36 years old. She struggled initially to find a publisher, and instead privately printed her first two books ‘The Tale of Peter Rabbit’ (1901) and ‘ The Tailor of Gloucester’ (1902), experimenting with new colour printing processes and managing every aspect of the books’ production. The first rare Beatrix Potter book to solely feature illustrations by her is the ‘The Happy Pair’ (c.1890), which alongside many of her more ephemeral illustrated pieces from that time are highly sought after and can fetch in excess of £15,000 in good original condition.Įncouraged by the reception her hand-done ‘picture-letters’ had received from the young recipients, Beatrix Potter turned her hand to writing & illustrating her own children’s books.

She was fascinated by natural history and would spend many hours drawing wildlife such as fungi and flowers, before turning her hand to illustration for children’s books published by Nister & Dutton, wherein prototypes for many of the characters from Peter Rabbit & Friends can be found, including Jeremy Fisher (‘A Frog he would a fishing Go’, Nister’s Holiday Annual 1896). To make up for the lack of company she began to sketch and make up stories about her pet rabbits and her parents seeing her talent paid for art lessons. View the first edition children's books by Beatrix Potter available at Shapero.īorn during the Victorian era to wealthy and well-connected parents, English children’s author and illustrator, botanist and conservationist Beatrix Potter led a largely solitary childhood.

The tale of peter rabbit first edition