- Museum number
- 1946,1121.1
- Description
-
Cover illustration to 'The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies', 1909; two rabbits walking to right, one carrying a basket, beyond six other rabbits
Pen and black ink and watercolour
- Production date
- 1909
- Dimensions
-
Height: 76 millimetres
-
Width: 138 millimetres
- $Inscriptions
-
- Curator's comments
- Introductory Label from Room 90 display, 2007, for 'Illustrations to Flopsy Bunnies':
Beatrix Potter (1866-1943)
Beatrix Potter is one of the best-loved children's book authors and illustrators and her life is now the subject of a film, 'Miss Potter'. As a solitary child in London, she took comfort in her pets and in drawing; in the summers she holidayed with her family in the Lake District.
In 1900 she wrote and illustrated a little book, 'The Tale of Peter Rabbit', for the children of her former governess. Two years later it was published by Warne & Co. and was an instant success, selling 50,000 copies in a year. Twenty-two little books about animals followed, including 'The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies' (published in 1909). Many of the stories were set in the countryside around Hill Top Farm in the Lake District, which she purchased in 1905 and left to the National Trust after her death.
Many of her original drawings and watercolours are at Hill Top and in the Victoria and Albert Museum. In 1946, Captain K.W.G. Duke, the executor of Miss Potter's will, presented the watercolours for 'The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies' to the British Museum and they are all displayed here for the first time in many years. Captain Duke presented the watercolours for Miss Potter's favourite book, 'The Tailor of Gloucester' to the Tate.
Beatrix Potter's first book was 'The Tale of Peter Rabbit' and a few years later it was followed by the adventures of Peter's cousin, Benjamin Bunny, named after one of her pet rabbits. Most of the books that followed were about other creatures - mice, frogs, kittens, ducks, badgers and foxes - but the rabbit stories were some of the most popular and in 1909 she returned to Benjamin Bunny. In this story he has grown up and married Peter's sister Flopsy.
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
-
1985 Jul, Shrewsbury, The Gateway, Beatrix Potter in Wales, (no cat.)
1992/3 Sept-Jan, Paris, Musée d'Orsay, 'Peter Rabbit' (ex cat.)
2007 Jan-Feb, London, BM, P & D, Room 90 display
2009 Aug-Dec, London, V&A, Flopsy Bunnies display
2010 July-Oct, Hatfield, Mill Green Museum, Beatrix Potter in Hertfordshire, display
- Associated titles
Associated Title: The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies
- Acquisition date
- 1946
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Registration number
- 1946,1121.1
