Letter to Joseph Moscrop
Beatrix Potter (London 1866 - Near Sawrey, Cumbria 1943)
Category
Manuscripts and documents
Date
26 May 1930
Materials
Ink, Paper
Measurements
95 x 123 mm; 1 sheet (Extent)
Place of origin
Carlisle
Collection
Beatrix Potter Gallery, Cumbria
NT 242602
Summary
Letter, with envelope, from Beatrix Potter to Joseph Moscrop, shepherd to Beatrix Potter at Troutbeck Park Farm from 1926. Dated 26 May 1930, the letter concerns apologies for paying a faulty 10 shilling note; lucky not to have lost many lambs; sending Joseph Moscrop a copy of The Fairy Caravan, 'a silly - rather pretty - book for bairns. I thought about giving it to you, but in some ways it is such nonsense that I am shy about it. There are some pictures of Troutbeck that you may recognize. Mr Heelis says I have made the portrait of the old tup (one of Dick Wilson's) - look as big as an elephant near Dale Head...There are only about 60 copies of the English edition so it is a curiosity.' Interestingly, other sources state that 100 copies of the English edition were published in order to secure copyright. Part of a collection of letters, Beatrix Potter's Lake District Letters to Joseph Moscrop, edited and transcribed by Judy Taylor and published (1988) as 'Beatrix Potter's Farming Friendship, Lake District Letters to Joseph Moscrop 1926-1943'. See also HIL.R.252, a letter to Annie Nelson dated 22 December 1934, which also discusses The Fairy Caravan.
Provenance
Purchased from Sotheby's auction 10 July 2001.
Makers and roles
Beatrix Potter (London 1866 - Near Sawrey, Cumbria 1943), writer Joseph Moscrop (fl.1926-1943), recipient