Beatrix Potter: Artist, Storyteller, and Countrywoman

From her Victorian childhood in London to her final years farming in the Lake District, Beatrix Potter's life is vividly captured in this illustrated biography. Born in an age when young women from affluent homes were not expected to 'go into art' commercially, the exceptionally gifted author-artist experienced many rebuffs before her special talent was recognized. But within ten years of the publication of The Tale of Peter Rabbit, her books were selling in their millions. Her success enabled her to embark on a second and equally unconventional career, as a farmer in the Lake District. After her marriage to solicitor William Heelis, she spent the rest of her life there, helping the National Trust in the conservation of the Lakeland countryside. The new edition, published in 1996, contains fresh material and many previously unpublished photographs that have come to light as interest in Beatrix Potter continues to grow. The final chapter of the book, which describes how the fame of Peter Rabbit has spread since his creator's death, has been almost entirely rewritten to cover the wealth of new enterprises inspired by this remarkable woman.