Beatrix Potter and The Sale Of Peter Rabbit

Since 1902 Beatrix Potter Books have been entertaining children with tales of talking animals and not so fairy tale endings. The first story published was The Tale of Peter Rabbit, to be followed by many other books with similar styles. Though similar somewhat to Aesop’s fables in the consistent usage of anthropomorphic characters, Potter certainly had her own distinct formula for popularizing her work and stuck to it.

The books, from illustrations to stories, were created, developed, and controlled solely by Beatrix Potter. She drew all of her own pictures and even received some acclaim for attention to detail and accuracy which was considerably knowledgeable for a female in the early 20th century.

She would often use the details of her own personal life as themes or backdrops for her stories. For instance, the plot in The Tale of Ginger and Pickles where the main characters were dealing with profit margins and other business decisions came from the fact that Beatrix was dealing with the very same issues in getting her books advertised and sold. The drawings would be based upon her surroundings; pets became characters and nearby gardens became settings.

Potter also frequently used recurring characters in many of her stories. The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies featured her most popular character Peter Rabbit, but not as a primary character. Peter Rabbit really only had a cameo. Benjamin Bunny, who was the cousin of Peter Rabbit, also played the title character in The Tale of Benjamin Bunny. This was an effective form of cross promotion, however Potter did do this in every story, as evidenced in The Tale of Pigling Bland.

Potter’s books were influential enough that the premise of one of her stories was borrowed by the author of the popular Winnie the Pooh stories. In Potter’s story an animal eats himself stuck. Later, a version of this can be seen as clearly similar in a Winnie the Pooh book. No less than Walt Disney himself also took interest in Potter’s writing. He had purchased the rights to both The Wind in the Willows and Winnie the Pooh, however when he made an offer to Potter, she declined, choosing to remain in absolute control of her works.

Just looking at some of the titles shows Beatrix Potter books keep to a consistent formula; The Tale of Pigling Bland. The Tale of Peter Rabbit, The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies. This familiarity was further developed by using many of the same characters consistently throughout her stories. Her illustrations were all done by one artist and always written by one author, her, and always done in a similar way. These techniques allowed Potter to have a product that was recognizable and marketable which gained her financial freedom and success.

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