- Rare collection of Beatrix Potter possessions up for auction
- Includes 161-year-old recipe book with recommendations for sponge cake, roast turkey and curry
- Enthusiasts set to battle it out for never-seen-before memorabilia
By Daily Mail Reporter
Published: | Updated:
A rare collection of Beatrix Potter possessions including a never-seen-before recipe book is due to go on sale - but don't expect to find any recommendations for rabbit stew.
The children's author, whose famous creations included The Tale of Peter Rabbit, compiled the collection with her solicitor husband William Hellis.
The recipes, which are believed to have been handed down over generations, include sponge cake, roast turkey and curry.
Rare find: The Beatrix Potter family heirloom is set to go on auction in, Ludlow, Shropshire on Thursday
The 161-year-old hidden gem was discovered among a trove of Beatrix Potter ephemera which is due to go on sale at Mullock's showroom in Ludlow, Shropshire, on Thursday.
Enthusiasts are set to flock to the auction where the collection is expected to sell for several hundred pounds.
The recipe book includes hand-written entries believed to originate from Beatrix Potter herself.
She married William Hellis in 1913 and the settled in Lancashire but also spent many summers in the Lake District.
The earliest entry is from 1851 and the book was updated over many years.
Labour of love: Beatrix Potter, left, wrote the recipe book with her husband William Hellis, right.
Potter died in 1943 aged 77. Many of her possessions were sold off at a sale in 1954 and it is thought that is where these items came from.
But the private owner has now decided to sell them and there is a great deal of interest among enthusiasts.
The collection includes a photo of William Hellis from 1910 which has never been seen before.
Other items in the sale include legal documents relating to the Heelis family, financial ledgers, a notebook and a New Testament in Gaelic bearing the name “AJ Heelis.”
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Richard Westwood-Brookes, from the auction house, said: “These form an intriguing insight into the daily life of one of the world’s most loved children’s authors.
"They came from the personal effects of her husband and we understand that the photograph of him as a young man as part of a typical Lakeland shooting party has not been seen before.
"As far as the recipes are concerned, they are clearly the family recipes that had been handed down throughout the generations of William Heelis’s family.
"They therefore came with him into the home he set up with Beatrix Potter.
Children's favourite: Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit
Home treats: Beatrix Potter recipe for roast turkey
"It is an intriguing thought that she might well have used this very book to make ginger bread and marmalade and a whole host of other items for the family larder.
"The books have clearly been compiled by various members of the Heelis family over the years, but some sections do seem to be in a hand which resembles that of Beatrix Potter herself.
"While we cannot conclusively prove this, further research may prove that these humble books have a considerable literary significance.”
Beatrix Potter published 22 books, beginning in 1902 with the Tale of Peter Rabbit.
Her characters and illustrations remain popular worldwide, and her life was the subject of the 2006 film Miss Potter, starring Renee Zellweger.
At home with Beatrix: Favourite recipes of children's author revealed
ROAST TURKEY
Pluck the bird carefully and singe all over with a piece of white paper; then wipe it with a clean cloth; draw in and keep the liver and gizard.
Wash the inside well and wipe it thoroughly dry with a cloth.
Cut the neck off close to the back but leave enough of the crop skin to turn over; break the leg bone close below the knee; draw out the sinews from the thighs and flatten the breast bone to make it look plump.
Fasten the neck with a skewer over to the back; run a skewer through the pinion and thigh on the other side and press the legs as much as possible between the breast and side bones.”
A turkey of ten pounds will take about 2.5 hours to cook - a larger one three hours or more.
GINGER BREAD
Ingredients:
3.5 lb wheat meal
3.5 lb treacle
12 oz sugar
12 oz butter
2 oz ground ginger
1 oz pounded allspice
1 pint of ale
Add two thirds of the ale to the other ingredients and beat them well for some time then dissolve 1oz of common washing soda in the rest of the ale and add it just before you put it into the oven.
It requires a slow oven - (let all the ingredients except the flour and soda be put before the fire to dissolve for an hour or two.)
