Spectacled Mouse Reading NewspaperPreviously unknown drawing dating from the first year of Potter’s association with Hildesheimer & Faulkner greeting card manufacturers (1892).
If your a Beatrix Potter, Peter Rabbit or Benjamin Bunny fan then peacay’s recent post, Beatrix Potter Rarities, at BibliOdyssey is a must see. peacay features numerous rare Potter sketches, watercolors and drawings, many from her days as a greeting card illustrator before her huge success as a book illustrator.
What is of particular interest here is that all images were culled from the archives of Sotheby’s and Christie’s and not from the digital archive of various library special collections. It opens up a whole new world by offering us a glimpse of important material that usually ends up in private hands. The image archives of the leading auction houses are a goldmine and greatly enhance the understanding and study of our material culture.