Leslie Linder: Decoding Beatrix Potter

Small display at the Victoria and Albert Museum highlighting the donation of over 2400 drawings and items relating to Beatrix Potter by Leslie Linder. 

Linder died in 1973 and his collection was left to the museum. The display looked at how his collecting started with a drawing of gardening Guinea Pigs which led him to be a scholar of her work publishing “The Art of Beatrix Potter” in 1952. 

Most significantly, when Potter’s niece, who inherited her house, discovered a collection of her journals written in code, Linder deciphered them discovering many of the stories behind the books. 

In a few objects the display told this complicated story simply and clearly. 

Closes 14 September 2024



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