Watercolour
1918 (drawn)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Beatrix Potter (1866-1943) is one of the world's best-loved children's authors and illustrators. She wrote the majority of the twenty-three Original Peter Rabbit Books between 1901 and 1913. The Tale of Peter Rabbit (Frederick Warne, 1902) is her most famous and best-loved tale.
The Tale of Johnny Town-mouse (1918) was published just after the First World War had come to a close. It is based on Aesop's fable of 'The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse'. Potter had previously produced illustrations to accompany this fable in about 1900, before becoming a published author. The publication of this tale came after a period of great hardship. The First World War took its toll on the Home Front as well as mainland Europe. Potter was busy running her farm in the Lake District as well as managing her portfolio of other properties. She complained to her publisher of 'failing eyesight' but also struggled to find the time to produce new original stories and illustrations. Frederick Warne & Co. was however hit by scandal in 1917 after the fraudulent activities of one of the brothers was discovered. Potter agreed to step up her production and help out the firm as one of their most popular authors and a personal friend of the family.
The tale centres around the idea that people (or mice) will find their natural affinity to either a town or country life. Having experienced both in her life, the final words of the tale reveal Potter's affiliation: 'For my part I prefer to live in the country, like Timmy Willie'.
The Tale of Johnny Town-mouse (1918) was published just after the First World War had come to a close. It is based on Aesop's fable of 'The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse'. Potter had previously produced illustrations to accompany this fable in about 1900, before becoming a published author. The publication of this tale came after a period of great hardship. The First World War took its toll on the Home Front as well as mainland Europe. Potter was busy running her farm in the Lake District as well as managing her portfolio of other properties. She complained to her publisher of 'failing eyesight' but also struggled to find the time to produce new original stories and illustrations. Frederick Warne & Co. was however hit by scandal in 1917 after the fraudulent activities of one of the brothers was discovered. Potter agreed to step up her production and help out the firm as one of their most popular authors and a personal friend of the family.
The tale centres around the idea that people (or mice) will find their natural affinity to either a town or country life. Having experienced both in her life, the final words of the tale reveal Potter's affiliation: 'For my part I prefer to live in the country, like Timmy Willie'.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Watercolour, sepia ink and pencil on paper |
| Brief description | Drawing of Johnny Town-mouse holding a bag, greeting a seated Timmy Willie surrounded by corn sheaves: unused illustration for The Tale of Johnny Town-mouse(1918), watercolour, sepia ink over pencil, Great Britain, [1918], Linder Bequest cat. no. LB.825. |
| Physical description | Drawing in watercolour, sepia ink and pencil of thin mouse wearing a long coat and carrying a green and red rolled rug under one forepaw and a hard bag looped over the other advancing, with his tail weaved infront of him, towards a seated field mouse. Field mouse is sitting cross legged with forepaws gesticulating. Ears of corn and other hazy background detail behind him. Illustration only partially coloured. Within a single line black frame. |
| Dimensions |
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| Production type | Unique |
| Gallery label | In a 1905 drawing titled ‘The Country Mouse and the Town Mouse’, Potter depicted the visiting town mouse clothed and carrying an umbrella and walking stick wrapped inside a rug. When she planned a new storybook, Potter adapted the image for the book’s cover. At first, she intended the new book’s title to be The Tale of Timmie Willie or A Tale of a Country Mouse, but when it changed to The Tale of Johnny Town-Mouse, she had to alter the beginning by adding: ‘Johnny Town-Mouse was born in a cupboard.’
This label partnered another accompanying a copy of the book, The Tale of Johnny Town-Mouse:
By 1918 Potter was a farmer in Near Sawrey in the Lake District so she set Timmy Willie’s home in a garden in her village and Johnny’s in the in the larger nearby village of Hawkshead. Modelling Johnny on Dr. Parsons, her husband’s golfing partner, Potter poked fun at inter-village snobbery by depicting the town mouse carrying golf clubs and holding up his tail to avoid the dirt.(August 2022) |
| Credit line | Linder Bequest [plus object number; written on labels on the same line as the object number] |
| Object history | Drawn by Beatrix Potter, probably in 1918. Acquired by the V&A from Leslie Linder (1904-1973) in 1973 as part of the Linder Bequest, a collection of ca. 2150 watercolours, drawings, literary manuscripts, correspondence, books, photographs, and other memorabilia associated with Beatrix Potter and her family. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | Beatrix Potter (1866-1943) is one of the world's best-loved children's authors and illustrators. She wrote the majority of the twenty-three Original Peter Rabbit Books between 1901 and 1913. The Tale of Peter Rabbit (Frederick Warne, 1902) is her most famous and best-loved tale. The Tale of Johnny Town-mouse (1918) was published just after the First World War had come to a close. It is based on Aesop's fable of 'The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse'. Potter had previously produced illustrations to accompany this fable in about 1900, before becoming a published author. The publication of this tale came after a period of great hardship. The First World War took its toll on the Home Front as well as mainland Europe. Potter was busy running her farm in the Lake District as well as managing her portfolio of other properties. She complained to her publisher of 'failing eyesight' but also struggled to find the time to produce new original stories and illustrations. Frederick Warne & Co. was however hit by scandal in 1917 after the fraudulent activities of one of the brothers was discovered. Potter agreed to step up her production and help out the firm as one of their most popular authors and a personal friend of the family. The tale centres around the idea that people (or mice) will find their natural affinity to either a town or country life. Having experienced both in her life, the final words of the tale reveal Potter's affiliation: 'For my part I prefer to live in the country, like Timmy Willie'. |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Other number | LB.825 - Linder Bequest catalogue no. |
| Collection | |
| Library number | BP.525 |
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| Record created | October 24, 2013 |
| Record URL |
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