Country Life

The real Jemima Puddle-Duck

CONSIDER Jemima Puddle-Duck, one of the most revered figures in children’s literature. The name, mellifluous and memorable, is a subtle creation, its two internal alliterations inducing an endearing quality that has sustained this quaint character through the decades. Within that name lies a personal tale: the choice of Jemima was a tribute to a Scottish artist who had been influential in Beatrix Potter’s early development as a writer and illustrator and who remained lifelong in her high regard. On her 10th birthday, Potter had received a copy of a book of paintings by Jemima Blackburn, one of the most respected ornithological artists of the time. In due course, the two were to meet.

Blackburn was one of those Victorian women, a book known to have inspired the Brontës.

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