Mrs Beatrice England 1913. Modigliani's passionate love is the eccentric intellectual Beatrice Hastings. Translations into Russian
And I am Beatrix Potter forever associated with the Lake District. It was there that in 1905, less than a year after the death of her beloved fiancé and publisher rolled into one, the devastated but determined to start her life over again bought Hill Top Farm.
Her admiration for these places is not surprising, even before the arrival of Beatrice, the Lake District became a legendary and life-giving place for many writers. In his poems, the Lake District sang of Wordsworth (by the way, his house-museum is located here), Coleridge and Southey. The trinity of famous representatives of the Lake School were among the first English poets who shifted their gaze from foreign landscapes to the primitive beauty of their homeland, appreciating the charm of an artless life in the bosom of nature.
The Lake District is one of the most popular holiday destinations for the British; every year they come here to admire the beauty, go on a yacht, dine at a Michelin restaurant, and taste local ale.
The famous national park The Lake District, home to England's highest mountain, Scafell Pike.
From childhood, free-thinking and a passion for the natural sciences, unusual for a girl of that time, were hallmarks Beatrix Potter and influenced her future work.
After the scientific community rejected the research of the amateur, and more importantly, the woman, Miss Potter made the decision to focus her attention on drawing and literature.
In 1913, a marriage to a local lawyer (who was viewed with disapproval by families on both sides) freed Beatrice from the yoke of harsh Victorian parents, and she plunged headlong into her favorite rural concerns: haymaking, crop production, cattle breeding.
Her little children's books brought in a considerable income, which allowed her to buy the land of bankrupt farmers in the neighborhood, giving them the opportunity to continue working on them. So her personal war was waged to protect her beloved Lake District.
She became one of the first members of the National Trust, which was founded by her friend Canon Hardwick Rawnsley, who devoted himself to the protection of natural parks, lands and cultural monuments.
To this foundation, she bequeathed her farms and lands, preserving for England a significant part of the magnificent nature of the Lake District.
It is to the care of the writer that England owes the survival of the Heardwick sheep, living only in the Lake District, Cumbria, North West England.
According to contemporaries, Beatrix Potter, who was born in rich family in Kensington and with a strict Victorian education, she enjoyed the role of farm lady. Hill Top, acquired by her with her own book-earned funds, is located near one of the largest lakes in the Windermere region, and the writer's house-museum is now open there.
It is no secret that the Hill Top farm environment, its garden, gates and vegetable garden have become inexhaustible sources of inspiration and nature for the artist. If you refresh your memories before the trip, you can easily recognize the beds, wattle fences and gates in the pictures of the famous storyteller, and if you take a book with you, look for differences.
However, the book can also be purchased in a shop next to the museum.
The small rooms of the writer's house with furniture and utensils seem vaguely familiar to the reader. Thanks to the efforts of members of the National Trust and the Beatrix Potter Society, they have been restored to the way they existed during her lifetime.
Kids will love the cardboard cutouts of her characters, the size of a ten-year-old. Adults, on the other hand, will be able to immerse themselves in childhood memories, imagining that Peter Rabbit is about to jump out from around the corner.
Don't forget to visit also World of Beatrix Potter theme park on Lake Windermere, where beloved characters come to life - Peter Rabbit and Jemima the Duck.
From Hill Top, it is worth going to the neighboring farms - Hawkshead, Nir Sori, U-Tree, where they continue to breed their beloved Potter Sherdwick sheep. In addition to providing excellent meat and wool, which is not afraid of any rain and snow, they also clear the hillsides of harmful weeds.
If you have time to spare, you can look into the writer's favorite places - the dilapidated Dryburgh Abbey, the church of her friend Canon Rawnsley and Sir Walter Scott Abbotsford Castle, which is 2.5 hours from Hill Top.
The rich nature of northern Britain has always inspired Miss Potter. Beatrice was often seen with her sketchbook at Lake Coniston and Derwentwater with a small island in the middle, described in the tale of the squirrel Tommy Walking on Tiptoe.
It is known that one of her most famous characters, Peter Rabbit, was born in the small Scottish town of Dunkeld, in the house where the Potter family lived in 1893. From here, Beatrice sent several drawings to the son of her former governess with the words: “My dear Noel, I don’t know what to write to you - I’d rather tell you a tale about little rabbits, whose names were Flopsy, Mopsy, Whitetail and Peter Rabbit ...”
In 2006, Renée Zellweger and Ewan McGregor starred in a touching biopic that chronicles the young storyteller's struggle for independence, as well as her tragically ended romance with publisher Norman Warne in 1905. The colorful world of the writer revived in the picture in the form of jumping rabbits and ducks contrasts strongly with the suffering that befell her lot.
On December 22, 1943, Beatrice passed away. At the request of the writer, the place where her ashes were scattered was not disclosed, and this secret died with her friend and attorney. But it is known that she rested in those places that she loved so much - in the Lake District.
(1943-12-22 ) (77 years old)Beatrice Potter (Helen Beatrix Potter, English Beatrix Potter; July 28, Kensington, London - December 22, Nir Sorey, Cumbria) is an English children's writer and artist.
Biography
Beatrix Potter was sixteen years old when she first saw the Lake District, fell in love with its beauty and decided to settle there one day. As an adult, she fulfilled her youthful dream and moved from London to Hill Top Farm. For her fairy tales, Beatrice drew detailed illustrations, in which it is easy to recognize her house with a garden.
Hill Top - home of Beatrix Potter
The writer's neighbors showed great interest in her work and rejoiced when they recognized her in the pictures. own houses. They often saw Beatrice with a sketchbook in nature, in the countryside and in the nearby market town of Hawkshead. Local scenes formed the basis of fairy tales about animals and were performed so wonderfully that people from all over the world still come to see the places depicted in her books.
Beatrice was very fond of animals and studied them all her life. When she was little, frogs, mice, a hedgehog, newt Isaac Newton and even bat. Beatrice watched them and drew. And her drawings kept getting better and better. By the time she began to depict her characters dressed in dresses, frock coats and caftans, the animals in the pictures seemed to come to life. Beatrice had two domestic rabbits, to which she dedicated many illustrations. One of them, Peter Push (eng. Peter Rabbit), she drove on a leash and took with her everywhere, even on the train. She dressed him in a blue jacket and wrote her first fairy tale about him with her own illustrations - the most famous in the world.
Beatrix Potter's journey as a writer and artist began in 1902, when publisher Frederick Warne published The Tale of Peter Rabbit. Previously, several publishers have abandoned the small book. Until 1910, Beatrice composed, drew and published an average of two books a year. The fees gave her some independence, although she still lived with her parents. In 1905, publisher Norman Warne proposed to Beatrice. Beatrice agreed to marry, but Warne died of blood cancer a few weeks later. In the same year, she bought Hill Top Farm in the village of Soray. After Norman's death, she tried to spend as much time there as possible. Farm types and surrounding nature began to appear in the form of illustrations for her books.
In 1913, at the age of 47, Beatrice married the notary William Hillis and began to live in the village of Sorey permanently.
Beatrix Potter with her husband, William Hillis, 1913
Beatrix Potter was one of the first to take up the conservation of nature in England. She gradually bought up the farms of her bankrupt neighbors, allowing them to continue farming.
Potter died on December 22, 1943 from pneumonia and cardiovascular disease. Her ashes were buried at Carlton Cemetery. (English). Beatrice bequeathed 4,000 acres (16 km2) of land and 16 farms, cottages, herds of cows and sheep to the National Trust. This land is now included in the Lake District National Park. The central office of the National Trust in Swindon in 2005 was named "Healys" in honor of the writer. Her husband William Hillis continued to be engaged in the charity of the late wife and the publication of her literary and artistic works for the next 20 months, by which he outlived her. After his death in August 1945, his property was taken over by the National Trust.
Translations into Russian
The largest collection of Potter's letters and drawings is kept in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London (UK), in Department rare books Free Library of Philadelphia, Children's Library of Princeton University (USA).
Micrological drawings Potter donated the library to Armitt during her lifetime (English) in Ambleside (UK).
Screen adaptations
Notes
- Linda J. Lear. Beatrix Potter, a life in nature. - New York: St. Martin "s Press, 2007. - S. 405–447. - 650 p.
- Taylor, Judy.
Where she hid, it was dark and a little scary, but the little girl tried to obey her mistress, who strictly forbade her to leave the shelter. As long as it's not safe, she should sit quietly, like a mouse in a pantry. The girl thought it was a game like hide-and-seek, bast shoes or "potatoes".
She sat behind wooden barrels, listened to the sounds coming from her and mentally drew a picture of what was happening. It was once taught to her by her father. The men all around were shouting loudly. The girl thought that these rough voices filled with sea and salt belonged to sailors. In the distance, booming ship horns, piercing ship whistles and the splash of oars were heard, and in the air, spreading their wings and absorbing the spilling sunlight, gray gulls roared.
The mistress promised to return soon, and the girl was very much looking forward to this. She hid so long that the sun moved across the sky and warmed her knees, penetrating through her new dress. The girl listened to see if the lady's skirts rustled on the wooden deck. Usually her heels clattered and always hurried somewhere, not at all like her mother's. The girl remembered her mother, absently, briefly, as it should be for a child who is dearly loved. When will she come? Then thoughts returned to the mistress. She had known her before, and her grandmother spoke of her, calling her a Writer. The writer lived in a small house on the outskirts of the estate, behind a thorny labyrinth. But the girl was not supposed to know about this. Her mother and grandmother forbade her to play in the maze and approach the cliff. It was dangerous. Yet sometimes, when no one looked after her, the girl liked to break the taboos.
A sunbeam broke between two barrels, and hundreds of dust particles danced in it. The girl held out her finger, trying to catch at least one. The writer, the cliff, the labyrinth, and her mother left her thoughts in an instant. She laughed as she watched the dust particles fly close before they swept away.
Suddenly, the sounds around him changed, the steps quickened, the voices rang with excitement. The girl bent down, caught in a curtain of light, pressed her cheek against the cool wood of the barrels and peered through the boards with one eye.
She revealed someone's legs, shoes, hems of petticoats, tails of multi-colored paper ribbons fluttering in the wind. Cunning seagulls scoured the deck in search of crumbs.
The great ship tilted and roared low, as if from the depths of its womb. The girl held her breath and pressed her hands to the floor. A wave of hesitation swept across the boards of the deck, reaching her fingertips. A moment of uncertainty - and the ship strained away from the pier. There was a farewell beep, a wave of joyful cries and wishes of “Bon voyage” swept through. They went to America, to New York, where her dad was born. The girl often heard adults whispering about leaving. Mom convinced dad that there was nothing more to wait and that they needed to leave as soon as possible.
The girl laughed again: the ship cut through the water like the giant whale Moby Dick from the story that her father often read. Mom didn't like those stories. She considered them too scary and said that there should be no place in her daughter's head for such thoughts. Dad invariably kissed Mom on the forehead, agreed with her and promised to be more careful in the future, but continued to read to the girl about a huge whale. There were other favorite stories from the fairy tale book. They talked about orphans and blind old women, about long journeys across the sea. Dad asked me not to tell mom. The girl herself understood that these readings must be kept secret. Mom didn’t feel well anyway, she got sick even before the birth of her daughter. Grandmother often reminded the girl that she needed to behave well, since her mother should not be upset. Something terrible can happen to mom, and only the girl will be to blame for everything. The girl kept a secret of fairy tales, games near the labyrinth and the fact that her father took her to visit the Writer. She loved her mother and did not want to upset her.
Someone pushed the barrel aside, and the girl squeezed her eyes shut. sun rays. She blinked until the owner of the voice blotted out the light. It was a big boy, eight or nine years old.
You're not Sally, he concluded, looking at her.
The girl shook her head.
According to the rules of the game, she must not reveal her name to strangers.
He wrinkled his nose and the freckles on his face came together.
And why is that?
The girl shrugged. It was also impossible to talk about the Writer.
Where is Sally then? The boy began to lose patience. He looked around. - She ran here, I'm sure.
Suddenly, laughter swept across the deck, there was a rustle and quick steps. The boy's face brightened.
Quicker! It won't get away!
The girl stuck her head out from behind the barrel. She watched the boy dive through the crowd, engrossed in chasing a whirlwind of white petticoats.
Her toes even itch, she so wanted to play with them.
And it all started with the passion of a little girl. She loved to draw animals and make up stories about them. different stories. These animals were almost her only friends, the girl was very reserved and liked to be alone with her fantasies more than to play with other children. Her parents were quite wealthy people, the girl's talents were not taken seriously.
In 1901, Beatrice published her first book, The Story of Peter Rabbit, with her own money. The book was not accepted by half a dozen publishers, but it still came out in a circulation of 250 copies with black and white illustrations that the author made herself. She insisted on a halfpenny price for the book: "little rabbits can't afford to spend 6 shillings". The book instantly became popular, a few weeks later another edition came out, then another, and today this fairy tale can be read in almost any language of the world. It was followed by two dozen more stories, including "The Tale of the Click-Click Squirrel", "The Tale of Benjamin Rabbit", "The Tailor of Gloucester" and others.
Lake District
Almost all her life, Beatrice lived on the Hill Top estate in the Lake District in the north of England, now her home-museum on this estate.
Beatrix Potter was sixteen years old when she first saw the Lake District. Then, more than a hundred years ago, she fell in love with the beauties of its nature and decided to settle there someday. As an adult, she fulfilled her youthful dream and moved from London to Hill Top Farm. For her fairy tales, Beatrice drew detailed illustrations, in which it is easy to recognize her house with a garden.
The writer's neighbors showed great interest in her work and rejoiced when they recognized their own houses in the pictures. They often saw Beatrice with a sketchbook, in nature, in the countryside and in the nearby market town of Hawkshead. Local scenes formed the basis of fairy tales about animals, and were performed so wonderfully that people from all over the world still come to see the places depicted in her books.
In 1905, the publisher of Beatrice's first book, Norman Warne, proposed to her, but died of blood cancer a few weeks later. In the same year, she bought Hill Top Farm in the village of Soray. After Norman's death, she tried to spend as much time there as possible. Views of the farm and the surrounding nature began to appear in the form of illustrations for her books. In 1913, at the age of forty-seven, Beatrice married the notary William Hillis and began to live in the village of Sorey permanently.
Beatrix Potter was one of the first to take up the conservation of nature in England. She gradually bought up the farms of her bankrupt neighbors, allowing them to continue farming. The writer bequeathed 4,000 acres of land and 15 farms National park. Read more>>
Miss Potter at the movies
The heroes of Beatrice's books more than once became cartoon characters, in 1971 a ballet was even staged in London, in which famous English dancers of that time danced the parts of squirrels, mice, frogs and other small animals.
15 year old Beatrix Potter with her dog
In March 1883, 16-year-old Beatrix Potter, impressed by the exhibition of old masters at the Royal Academy of Arts, where she had just visited with her father, wrote in her diary: "Sooner or later I will achieve something."
True, inspired by Samuel Pepys, she made her notes with the help of her own invented code, so that the promise she made to herself for the prying eye remained gibberish until 1953, when the diary was deciphered. Beatrice kept her word and achieved a lot, although success did not come to her immediately and in a roundabout way.
Beatrix Potter with her father and brother (1885)
Beatrice's parents had inherited an impressive fortune from ancestors who owned cotton mills in Lancashire, and were struggling to disassociate themselves from their common roots. The father, having learned to be a lawyer, did not bother himself with work, but instead was engaged in photography and made friends with artists (he was a friend of John Everett Millais himself). Mother loved canaries, summer trips to Scotland, which became a popular holiday destination thanks to Queen Victoria, and listening to smart conversations of prominent men, and also dreamed of passing off her daughter as a real aristocrat.
Beatrix Potter as a child
It should be noted that Beatrice did not suffer from excessive sentimentality: if the animal fell ill, she made sure that his end was not long and painful; and when Bertram, leaving to study at a boarding school, left two bats, with which she could not cope, our heroine released one of them into the wild, and the second, more rare species, put her to sleep with chloroform, and then made a stuffed animal out of her.
What Beatrice's parents encouraged was her early interest in drawing. She painted like a man possessed - flowers, trees, her pets, of course, viewed under a microscope. younger brother insects, in general, everything that fell into her field of vision - she herself was surprised that just seeing was not enough for her. Of course, as in any self-respecting family, teachers were hired, but the girl could not stand copying the work of other artists, fearing someone else's influence on her style. Experimenting with the most different materials and techniques, by the age of 19 she finally chose watercolor.
From an early age, Beatrice, who was not indifferent to wildlife, became the main passion ... mushrooms
By the time our heroine turned 25, she - no, did not marry a representative of a noble family, as her parents dreamed, on the contrary - she sold her drawings as illustrations and postcards, but Beatrice became the main passion from an early age, who was not indifferent to wildlife … mushrooms! Encouraged by the famous Scottish naturalist Charles Mackintosh, she learned to create not only beautiful, but also scientifically accurate "portraits" of the creatures that excited her imagination.
13 years of painstaking research eventually took the form of a new and, as Beatrice believed, original theory of fungal reproduction. True, the then director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, honored her with only contempt. As a famous chemist and compassionate uncle, Sir Henry Roscoe undertook to participate in the fate of the scientific discovery of Beatrice. Not without difficulty, he managed to persuade Deputy Director George Massey to present to the scientific community the results of his niece's work - women in those days were not only allowed to make reports, even attend meetings of the Linnean Society. True, even there Beatrice's research was not appreciated; the results of her research disappeared without a trace.
Perhaps, by that time, our heroine herself was tired of mushroom studies, and therefore, without much torment, she returned to her favorite activities - drawing and writing. However, perhaps the world would never have seen the fairy tales about Peter Rabbit, if not for the former governess Beatrice. They met when Beatrice, who was learning the wisdom of German and Latin under the guidance of Annie Carter, was already 17, and, apparently, due to a small difference in age, they became friends. When her mentor got married, the former student regularly visited her, and when she left with her parents for the holidays, she sent Annie's children letters with pictures. If the news was tight, she made up stories. About animals. One fine day, her former governess suggested that Beatrice publish them.
Cover of the first edition of Peter Rabbit
After being rejected by 6 publishers who did not dare to contact an unknown author, Beatrice published The Tale of Peter Rabbit on her own. 250 copies intended for relatives and friends scattered in a matter of days. The publishing house Frederick Warne and Co., which had previously rejected the aspiring writer, finally changed her mind, but asked the author to supply the story with color illustrations. The book, published in October 1902, immediately became a bestseller: the first edition was sold out even before it was sent to print, and by the sixth, even Beatrice wondered why the reading public had such a love for rabbits.
Rabbit Peter (art. Beatrix Potter)
Potter - consciously or by chance - created a new type of animal tales: her characters walked and dressed like people, and in general led a completely human lifestyle, but, despite the clothes, looked like real animals, and at the same time remained true to their own. animal instincts. The prototypes of the world-famous Peter Rabbit were her two pets - Benjamin Jumper, who loved toasted bread and butter and walked on a leash with the Potter family through the valleys and hills of Scotland, and Peter the Piper, Beatrice's constant companion and master of all sorts of tricks.
Beatrice worked tirelessly: new stories came out one after another; in addition, she vigorously exploited her characters outside the bookshops - she created and filed a patent for a toy Peter rabbit, invented the game of the same name, and actively participated in the release of all sorts of things depicting the characters of her stories.
Norman Warne with his nephew
Following the commercial success, came good luck in matters of the heart. A multi-day daily correspondence with publishing house editor Norman Warne turned into mutual love and marriage proposal. By that time, 40-year-old Beatrice's parents still did not give up hope of intermarrying with real aristocrats, and therefore there could be no talk of any engagement with a simple artisan. When the groom died of blood cancer a month later, they probably breathed a sigh of relief.
While Norman was alive, he and Beatrice cherished the hope of buying a small farm in the Lake District. Now that her lover was dead, Beatrice was determined not to give up on their shared dream. So at the age of 39, she went from a resident of the privileged metropolitan area of Kensington to a farmer.
Beatrix Potter at her Hill Top Farm
The Hill Top farm she acquired was located on the edge of the village of Nir Soray in Lancashire. Founded in the 17th century, it required attention and care, and at the same time became a inexhaustible source inspiration. Writing and art works were replaced by household chores: chickens, ducks, sheep, pigs, cows - Beatrice's children's menagerie now seemed just a toy, especially since the farm itself regularly grew more and more new lands. However, all this did not cancel child responsibilities, and Beatrice was torn between her beloved farm and her parents who were no less beloved, but too strongly attached to her daughter.
Beatrix Potter with her second husband William Hillis
It's been 8 years since Norman's death. Beatrice was preparing to marry William Hillis, who over the years had become her devoted legal adviser and informal farm manager while the mistress was in London. At the same time, she still loved Norman, and in a letter to his sister Millie, who had become her close friend, a month before the wedding she wrote, as if justifying herself:
I don’t think Norman would have been against it, especially considering the fact that my illness and an unbearable feeling of loneliness forced me to finally make a decision.
I do not believe he would object, especially as it was my illness and the miserable feeling of loneliness that decided me at last.
In 1913, overcoming the desperate resistance of her parents, 47-year-old Beatrix Potter finally left her nursery in Kensington, from which she had long grown, married and settled with her husband in Castle Cottage. Hill Top, where she planned to live with her untimely departed lover, Beatrice turned herself into a museum, and wore an engagement ring on one finger with the one that Norman gave her 8 years ago in honor of their engagement. She lost it 5 years later while working in the fields and was very upset about it.
Household worries and vision problems left less and less time and energy for writing, which Beatrice, however, did not regret. The life of a simple farmer more than suited her, and she was proud of her success in breeding a local breed of sheep, perhaps, almost more than the glory of England's main children's writer.
Beatrice Potter Hillis died on December 22, 1943, quite satisfied with her life and her achievements, and without a shadow of doubt about her own importance. She once said that one day her fairy tales would become as popular as Andersen's. Today, 4 of her books are sold in the world every minute, her museum in the Lake District is besieged by crowds of tourists, and Peter Rabbit has even become a mascot. Mitsubishi Bank in Japan, which is far from England in all respects.