NEW YORK, NY.- The Tale of Peter Rabbit and other books by
Beatrix Potter (18661943) have become classics of childrens
literature and represent one of the most successful publishing
enterprises in the history of the British book trade. Yet Peter
Rabbit began not as a commercial publishing venture, but as a
story created to entertain the child of a family friendall told
in an eight-page letter illustrated with pen-drawn vignettes.
The Morgan Library & Museum explores the extraordinary tale of
how a largely self-taught artist and writer used a series of
private letters to develop some of the most vividly depicted
animal characters in all of childrens literaturein the process
creating a wholly original artistic and literary style. On view
until January 27, 2013, Beatrix Potter: The Picture Letters
brings together for the first time twenty-two letters from
important American private holdings as well as from three major
institutional collections: the Morgan, the Victoria & Albert
Museum in London, and the Cotsen C