Henry Carter: The Forgotten Illustrator Behind Beatrix Potter’s Early Art

Description

This book looks at the life of an artist Ð Ernest Aris In 1916 Beatrix PotterÕs eyesight was failing and she engaged Aris to undertake 6 drawings for a book that she had in mind. In a bitter twist of fate, an American publisher pirated some other drawings by Aris to illustrate a plagiarised tale of Peter Rabbit. A potential partnership came to an end with Potter confiding in her publishers that Aris was an Òartlessly conceited little bounderÓ. Aris was forced to adopt pseudonyms. You will find little recorded about Aris in the Biographies and CompendiumÕs on British ChildrenÕs authors and illustrators yet he illustrated some 200 childrenÕs books. History seems to have passed him by. I have undertaken comprehensive research into the Biography of one of our notable illustrators and hope that you enjoy the journey. Joyce Irene Whalley, formerly of the Rare Books Section of the V&A Museum wrote ÒWhen I co-founded the Beatrix Potter Society over 20 years ago, I would not have believed we would still be finding out new information about her work today. You have opened up another window, and I do congratulate youÓ. The author, Judy Taylor Hough MBE, wrote ÒÉÉ.let me congratulate you on an excellent piece of research – an important addition to the Potter saga. I am fascinated to discover that our Mr Aris is a much more interesting man than I had ever imagined.Ó In response to a request from Linda Lear who published ÒBeatrix Potter, A Life in Nature,Ó in 2007 I gave permission for her to quote from my research which now appears here, in full, for the first time. Broadcaster and Author PAUL CHRYSTAL said:- The story of Ernest Aris and the illustrations he did for Beatrix Potter, for many other books and for Cadbury’s Cococubs, has never been fully researched or published. That is, until this unique and fascinating book became available. Lavishly illustrated with Aris’ numerous drawings and other documents – some of which are unique to this book – it provides the first account of Aris’ career and fills an important gap in the literature on marketing history and the history of children’s book illustration. His work and relationship with Beatrix Potter is fully documented and provides important details of a hitherto little known aspect of Potter’s life. The Cadbury Cococubs campaign is one of the most successful in British Marketing history and this meticulously researched coverage fills an important gap in the literature.

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