Letter from Frederick Warne & Co. to Beatrix Potter; the 'bunny book' letter
Correspondence
16 December 1901 (written)
16 December 1901 (written)
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On display at V&A South Kensington
National Art Library| Artist/Maker | |
| Place Of Origin |
Beatrix Potter 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.
At first publishers rejected Beatrix Potter’s manuscript of ‘The Tale of Peter Rabbit and Mr. McGregor’s Garden’ so she decided to publish the story herself in an edition of 250 copies with black and white illustrations and a colour frontispiece. By the time her privately printed edition was published in December 1901 Frederick Warne & Co. had agreed to publish the story the following year as ‘The Tale of Peter Rabbit’; the version with colour illustrations that many of us know today. In this letter of 16th December 1901 Warne write to Potter about her ‘Bunny Book’, noting: ‘Of course we cannot tell whether the work is likely to run to a second edition or not, and therefore we fear it might not provide a reasonable remuneration for you…’ In reality, the book sold incredibly well and is still published by Warne today.
At first publishers rejected Beatrix Potter’s manuscript of ‘The Tale of Peter Rabbit and Mr. McGregor’s Garden’ so she decided to publish the story herself in an edition of 250 copies with black and white illustrations and a colour frontispiece. By the time her privately printed edition was published in December 1901 Frederick Warne & Co. had agreed to publish the story the following year as ‘The Tale of Peter Rabbit’; the version with colour illustrations that many of us know today. In this letter of 16th December 1901 Warne write to Potter about her ‘Bunny Book’, noting: ‘Of course we cannot tell whether the work is likely to run to a second edition or not, and therefore we fear it might not provide a reasonable remuneration for you…’ In reality, the book sold incredibly well and is still published by Warne today.
object details
| Object Type | |
| Materials and Techniques | Headed and typed. |
| Brief Description | Correspondence; letter from Frederick Warne & Co. to Beatrix Potter, 16 December 1901 concerning the printing of Warne's edition of The Tale of Peter Rabbit; Linder Bequest cat. no. LB.1496. |
| Dimensions |
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| Production type | Unique |
| Object history | Letter from Frederick Warne & Co, Chandos House, Bedford Street, London to Beatrix Potter, written 16 December 1901. 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. |
| Subject depicted | |
| Summary | Beatrix Potter 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. At first publishers rejected Beatrix Potter’s manuscript of ‘The Tale of Peter Rabbit and Mr. McGregor’s Garden’ so she decided to publish the story herself in an edition of 250 copies with black and white illustrations and a colour frontispiece. By the time her privately printed edition was published in December 1901 Frederick Warne & Co. had agreed to publish the story the following year as ‘The Tale of Peter Rabbit’; the version with colour illustrations that many of us know today. In this letter of 16th December 1901 Warne write to Potter about her ‘Bunny Book’, noting: ‘Of course we cannot tell whether the work is likely to run to a second edition or not, and therefore we fear it might not provide a reasonable remuneration for you…’ In reality, the book sold incredibly well and is still published by Warne today. |
| Bibliographic Reference | Hobbs, Anne Stevenson, and Joyce Irene Whalley, eds. Beatrix Potter: the V & A collection : the Leslie Linder bequest of Beatrix Potter material : watercolours, drawings, manuscripts, books, photographs and memorabilia. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1985.p.170; no.1496Hobbs, Anne Stevenson, and Joyce Irene Whalley, eds. Beatrix Potter: the V & A collection: the Leslie Linder bequest of Beatrix Potter material: watercolours, drawings, manuscripts, books, photographs and memorabilia. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1985. p.170; no.1496 |
| Other Number | LB.1496 - Linder Bequest catalogue no. |
| Collection | |
| Library Number | BP.821(ii) |
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| record created | February 11, 2016 |
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