Anne Moore

Her teachers were a Scottish nurse (a believer in witches and fairies), governesses, and a visiting teacher of art, Miss Cameron . Beatrix sketched animals constantly, both at home and at the London Zoo ...

Friends constituted another bright spot in her life. One early mentor was the Rev. William Gaskell , whose death in June 1884 was the occasion of moralising in her journal about loss and change.

BP said she was uncertain whether it is a romance or a joke. She was concerned that the bloodthirstiness of the tale made it unsuitable for children, who, she felt, must be warned off by...