Endpaper design for a foreign translation of the Peter Rabbit books
Watercolour
ca. 1903 - 1910 (made)
ca. 1903 - 1910 (made)
| Artist/Maker |
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.
Beatrix Potter took a strong interest in the design of her ‘little books’. She preferred plain endpapers for them, like those in the first edition of The Tale of Peter Rabbit, ‘to rest the eye between the cover and the contents of the book, like a plain mount for a framed drawing’. However, in 1903, Warne decided to create a more colourful look for the little books, and Potter designed a pictorial endpaper featuring characters from her stories, and designed further endpapers after this date. This design was not used, but was intended for a foreign language edition of the Peter Rabbit books. It is a variant of an endpaper design first used in July 1910 for The Tale of Mrs. Tittlemouse; in this alternative version, most of the books held by the characters have been removed, Mrs. Tittlemouse holding a brush instead.
Beatrix Potter took a strong interest in the design of her ‘little books’. She preferred plain endpapers for them, like those in the first edition of The Tale of Peter Rabbit, ‘to rest the eye between the cover and the contents of the book, like a plain mount for a framed drawing’. However, in 1903, Warne decided to create a more colourful look for the little books, and Potter designed a pictorial endpaper featuring characters from her stories, and designed further endpapers after this date. This design was not used, but was intended for a foreign language edition of the Peter Rabbit books. It is a variant of an endpaper design first used in July 1910 for The Tale of Mrs. Tittlemouse; in this alternative version, most of the books held by the characters have been removed, Mrs. Tittlemouse holding a brush instead.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Endpaper design for a foreign translation of the Peter Rabbit books (generic title) |
| Materials and techniques | watercolour, pen and ink and pencil on paper |
| Brief description | Drawing of a decorative border in pen and ink, watercolour and pencil - an endpaper design for foreign translations of the Peter Rabbit books - by Beatrix Potter, early 20th century; Linder Bequest cat. no. LB.949. |
| Physical description | Watercolour and pen and ink endpaper design within pencil lines; a decorative border with Mrs Tittlemouse and a bee, Brown Owl reading a book, Peter Rabbit holding a radish, a robin, Tom Kitten, Squirrel Nutkin and a mouse from The Tailor of Gloucester, with pattern and drawings of a tea set in the upper centre and a pie in the lower centre. |
| Dimensions |
|
| Style | |
| Production type | Unique |
| Marks and inscriptions | '3 3/4 inches wide / deep etched' (inscribed in pencil lower centre) |
| Credit line | Linder Bequest [plus object number; written on labels on the same line as the object number] |
| Object history | Drawn by Beatrix Potter as an endpaper design in the early twentieth century. 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. Beatrix Potter took a strong interest in the design of her ‘little books’. She preferred plain endpapers for them, like those in the first edition of The Tale of Peter Rabbit, ‘to rest the eye between the cover and the contents of the book, like a plain mount for a framed drawing’. However, in 1903, Warne decided to create a more colourful look for the little books, and Potter designed a pictorial endpaper featuring characters from her stories, and designed further endpapers after this date. This design was not used, but was intended for a foreign language edition of the Peter Rabbit books. It is a variant of an endpaper design first used in July 1910 for The Tale of Mrs. Tittlemouse; in this alternative version, most of the books held by the characters have been removed, Mrs. Tittlemouse holding a brush instead. |
| Bibliographic references |
|
| Other number | LB.949 - Linder Bequest catalogue no. |
| Collection | |
| Library number | BP.465 |
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| Record created | March 27, 2015 |
| Record URL |
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