(1866-1943) WHAT DO CUDDLY BUNNIES FLOPSY, MOPSY, COTTONTAIL AND PETER HAVE IN COMMON WITH FUNGUS AND ALGAE? ARTIST AND VICTORIAN NATURALIST BEATRIX POTTER.
In Victorian England, bugs and mold were not proper playthings for wealthy young ladies, but that didn't seem to bother young Beatrix Potter. Beatrix and her brother spent summers in the country, painting and drawing the various creatures they lugged home from the woods. But while Bertram was sent off to the finest schools, Beatrix remained at home, in the care of a governess. Shy and reserved, she spent a great deal of time writing a diary in a secret code. When it was published, years after her death, it revealed the heartbreaking tale of a young scientist denied opportunity.
She developed a keen interest in mycology, entomology, botany and other sciences at the South Kensington museum. Her uncle, a chemist, gave Beatrix access to microscopes and other scientific equipment. She made detailed drawings and paintings of plants, animals and insects. But Beatrix was most fascinated by fungi. She wrote a detailed paper on mold. Beatrix reasoned that a common fungus known as lichens, found on trees and rocks, was in fact two separate organisms living together. But her work was not taken seriously. Botanists refused to discuss her drawings, and the Linnaean Society of British scientists did not admit women. It would be years before science actually proved that young Miss Potter's theory was correct.
Frustrated by her failure to break into the world of science, Beatrix concentrated on her drawing. It was out of this frustration that some of the most popular characters in children's literature were born. Gaining fame as an author and illustrator, Beatrix Potter used the proceeds from her books to establish a large reserve of land, which she donated to the British National Trust. She became a prize sheep farmer, and a conservationist...quietly working to preserve the land and the creatures that she so loved.
Credits: Beatrix Potter image is courtesy of the Victoria & Albert Museum, reproduced by permission of Frederick Warne & Co.
For more information, please visit:
http://www.peterrabbit.com/
http://www.visitcumbria.com/bpotter.htm
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