Unpublished photographs of Beatrix Potter and a letter in which she explained why the Loch Ness Monster has humps are among important items relating to the children’s author that have been saved for the nation.

The letter demonstrates a scientific knowledge of animals that Potter used to create such vivid fictional characters.

Armed with an innate understanding of frogs, toads and newts, she wrote in 1934 to the author of a book on the Loch Ness Monster: “May I hazard a suggestion about the humps? These beasts — whatever they are — frequent deep waters. They are able to sustain immense variations of pressure. I suggest that the humps mainly result from a power of self inflation under a very elastic skin for the purpose of equalising pressure. Frogs & toads, especially the latter, have power of inflation. Toads let off acrid water. Their inflation is in the belly. But it is conceivable that this beast may have a very loose elastic skin all round its body.” The material has been acquired from a private collection by the Victoria and Albert Museum just as “Potter-mania” — Beatrix rather than Harry — is about to hit Britain.

The premiere of Miss Potter, a film starring the Oscar-winning actress Renée Zellweger as the woman who created Peter Rabbit and Jemima Puddleduck, is on December 3.

Such is Potter’s enduring appeal that The Tale of Peter Rabbit alone has sold more than 40 million copies worldwide since it was first published at the turn of the last century. Although more than two million Potter books are sold each year, the film — due for a nationwide release on January 5 — is set to inspire a dramatic rise in sales.

Her publisher, Frederick Warne, which approved the screenplay, is issuing spin-offs, such as a “novelisation” of the script and a special edition of Peter Rabbit, while the parent company, Penguin, has a new book on Potter.

The National Trust — to which Potter left all her farms, cottages and land in order to conserve the Lake District — was also closely involved with the production, allowing filming at its Potter properties. It is now expecting a big increase in visitors. Cumbria Tourism has prepared a “movie map”.

Just as Warne was among six publishers which turned down the story of a rabbit called Peter until a privately printed edition came out, so it took 14 years to get the film off the ground. The success of other dramas about writers — Virginia Woolf in The Hours and J. M. Barrie in Finding Neverland — persuaded investors of its potential.

Having spent weeks in a publishing house to prepare for her role in Bridget Jones, Zellweger immersed herself in the archives of Frederick Warne, handling and reading Potter’s journals and sketchbooks.

The actress — whose performance is already being tipped by Variety for an Oscar — said: “It made for a fascinating journey to find the best way to be accurate, to put the pieces of the puzzle together. Beatrix Potter was a great naturalist.”

The V&A — which already boasts an important Potter collection — will display its latest acquisitions next autumn.

An author's tale

Early life

Born in South Kensington in 1866, and taught by governesses at home, she had a menagerie of pets, including Peter, a rabbit

Peter Rabbit

In 1893 she wrote a letter to Noel Moore, the sick child of a former nanny, which became the first rough draft of The Story of Peter Rabbit: “My Dear Noel, I don’t know what to write to you, so I shall tell you a story about four little rabbits whose names were Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail and Peter. . .” She published the first edition herself. It was reprinted by Frederick Warne in 1902.

Lake District legacy

At her death in 1943 she left 14 farms and 4,000 acres of land to the National Trust.

Source: V&A/Frederick Warne

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