Authors

British · 1866–1943

Beatrix Potter

Beatrix Potter was a British author and illustrator whose small illustrated books — beginning with The Tale of Peter Rabbit (1902) — became enduring classics of children's literature. She originally self-published Peter Rabbit after Frederick Warne rejected it, then agreed to commercial publication with Warne when the book became a phenomenon. She used the income from her books to buy Hill Top Farm in the Lake District, became a sheep farmer, supported the National Trust with land donations, and largely stopped writing after her marriage in 1913. She was also a serious mycologist whose work on fungal spores was not formally recognized in her lifetime.