The 1901 Edition — Coloring What Warne Left Out

The 1901 edition is up on the website.

The first Peter Rabbit — the one Beatrix Potter printed herself, 250 copies, privately, because no publisher would take it — all 44 drawings, free to see. Wikipedia has the whole thing, and I managed to download it all in one go, which felt like a small technical victory.

I'm now in the process of coloring some of them. Not all 44 — just the ones that got dropped when Frederick Warne took over the commercial printing. I don't think most people are going to care about that distinction. For me it's just fascinating. The drawings aren't the same — she had to redraw them for the Warne edition. So the 1901 originals and the ones most people know look similar, but they're different drawings. Same rabbit, different hand, different moment.

It's kind of such a treasure, finding this first edition — the one she did herself, before anyone else believed in it. If you want a physical copy today it would cost you thousands. Here it is, free, because it's public domain and because someone put it online.

The plan is to have the colored versions done for her 160th birthday — July 28, 2026. A small book. All 44. The ones the world mostly forgot, back in color.

Thank you technology. Thank you public domain.