Together, bringing memories to life
Our NEW, ENHANCED PAPERBACK edition of the acclaimed biography:
Beatrix Potter’s Secret Code Breaker
Did you know that Beatrix, in 1881, at the tender age of 15, invented her own secret cipher-coded alphabet and that she used it to write an almost lost Journal until she was 30 years old?
This is a new paperback edition of Andrew’s acclaimed biography of Leslie Linder, the Buckhurst Hill resident and Essex businessman who, in the 1950s, took five years to break open the cipher-coded alphabet that Beatrix Potter had invented and then used, between 1881 and 1897, to record 200,000 words of her private thoughts and observations BEFORE creating The Tale of Peter Rabbit. Read on …
‘A fascinating story of persistence, intelligence and luck that led us into the secret world of the creator of Peter Rabbit.’ – Alan Titchmarsh, MBE VMH DL, English Gardener, Broadcaster, Poet and Novelist
’This book is a wonderfully well written work.’ – Dame Patricia Routledge DBE, International Actor and Patron of The Beatrix Potter Society
‘This account of the decoding of the Potter Journal is exemplary. It is all meticulous work.’ – Reviewer for the Children’s Book History Society
EXCITING NEWS: THE V&A MUSEUM IS TELLING THE STORY OF LINDER’S LIFE, AND HIS CODE BREAKING, IN AN INTERACTIVE DISPLAY IN THE LEIGHTON GALLERY BETWEEN 14 AUGUST 2023 AND 25 MARCH 2024! USE THIS LINK TO LEARN MORE https://beatrixpottersociety.org.uk/events/leslie-linder-decoding-beatrix-potter/
Our NEW ENHANCED, PAPERBACK edition of the acclaimed biography:
Beatrix Potter’s Secret Code Breaker
Did you know that Beatrix, in 1881, at the tender age of 15, invented her own secret cipher-coded alphabet and that she used it to write an almost lost Journal until she was 30 years old? This was before she became a world-famous author!
This is a new paperback edition of Andrew’s acclaimed biography of Leslie Linder, the Buckhurst Hill resident and Essex businessman who, in the 1950s, took five years to break open the cipher-coded alphabet that Beatrix Potter had invented when aged fifteen, and then used, between 1881 and 1897, to record 200,000 words of her private thoughts and observations BEFORE creating The Tale of Peter Rabbit. Read on …
‘A fascinating story of persistence, intelligence and luck that led us into the secret world of the creator of Peter Rabbit’
Alan Titchmarsh, MBE VMH DL, English Gardener, Broadcaster, Poet and Novelist
’This book is a wonderfully well written work’
Dame Patricia Routledge DBE, International Actor and Patron of The Beatrix Potter Society
Linder’s code breaking is illustrated, so too, are examples of her cipher alphabet and the coded Journal jottings, often written frankly for she never expected them to be read. Also described is Linder’s family, career, upper middle-class background, and the enjoyment of a country estate supported by their shipping company which had clients like Marconi of Chelmsford, and the recollections of those who, like Andrew, remember Linder’s achievement.