Fully Admired: A New Look at "The Tailor of Gloucester" by Beatrix Potter

Fully Admired: A New Look at "The Tailor of Gloucester" by Beatrix Potter Commentary by Elizabeth G. Westgard "Fully Admired: A New Look at The Tailor of Gloucester" presents Beatrix Potter's beloved children's story about a poor tailor, his cat, and some quick-witted mice, in a larger format than the standard "Peter Rabbit" size. The 27 illustrations are enlarged to reveal the exquisite details and fine drawing obscured in the traditional small book. Originally published by Frederick Warne in 1903, "Tailor" has delighted generations of readers and has been reprinted many times in the same small format, about 4 by 5 inches. But the illustrations were always too small to display the delicate features of Potter's originals. Potter's biographer said the pictures "cannot be fully admired without a magnifying glass.” Using reproductions of Potter's original watercolor paintings from the Tate Museum, "Fully Admired" presents the entire illustrated story in a larger format (8.5 x 11). The paintings of the elaborate embroidery, watchful mice, and Gloucester scenes are brought to life in the larger scale of "Fully Admired" so that Potter's fine work can at last be fully appreciated. "Fully Admired" also includes many of Potter's rarely-seen preparatory illustrations, presented here for the first time. This unique collection shows Potter "at work" as she revises her illustrations and experiments with a surprising variety of styles. Written for older children and adults, the 4000-word Commentary describes Potter's remarkable creativity as a young adult when she painted hundreds of exquisite nature studies, and in her early thirties, set aside her scientific work and began creating books for children. "The Tale of Peter Rabbit" (1901) was the first of Potter's 23 picture books for children, but "The Tailor of Gloucester," her third book, was always her favorite.