How the author and illustrator’s codes were finally cracked with a little help from history
You might not necessarily associate the unassuming author of Peter Rabbit with ciphers and code-breakers, but if we learned anything from our Looking Back feature on Beatrix Potter in our March issue, it’s that she is the last person you should assume anything about at all.
After her death, a series of notebooks full of tightly curled, tiny cipher were discovered by a family member. The coded books were written by Potter between the ages of 15 and 30, and utterly defeated the relative who uncovered it, so they enlisted the help of Potter Superfan Leslie Linder.
Even so, it took Linder years of scrutinising the tiny, indecipherable handwriting to find a breakthrough, which turned out to be the year 1793 and the Roman numerals XIV (16). He worked out that it must refer to the execution of Louis XIV in 1793, and from there he was away… Well. We say ‘away’...
Though it transpired the ‘code’ that had eluded everyone for years was a simple alphabetical cipher of the type Scouts might use, Potter’s handwriting was so small, it was years until the code was fully broken and Potter’s teenaged thoughts about artists, museum, exhibits and more, were finally uncovered.
The code is a simple switch of letters for other letters, some numbers and a few symbols, too. You can find a full list here if you wish. And Atlas Obscura has still more information on the code
Now, what’s the Potter Code for ‘Mr MacGregor’s juiciest radishes: this way’? Asking for a (furry) friend.
You can read more about Beatrix Potter in our March issue’s Looking Back pages. The exhibition Beatrix Potter: Drawn to Nature is on at the V&A until 8 January 2023.
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