The Big Elephant is Dead

MY TRIP TO NEW YORK last weekend included a first visit to the Morgan Library and Museum. I spent several hours on Saturday afternoon slowly enjoying the whole space and the thoughtfully acquired artworks and books.

My favorite exhibit was "In the Company of Animals: Art, Literature and Music at the Morgan". From the Morgan's website: "This exhibition examines the ways in which the artists, writers, and composers represented in the Morgan's collection used animals to think and create. What does the portrayal of animals in images, words, and music reveal about companionship, meaning, and morality?"

Imagine my pleasure when I discovered a delightful letter written by Miss Potter herself to a young friend, Noel Moore. The letter, dated 6 April 1896 from 2 Bolton Gardens, London, sums up, for me, the real value of her work as an author and naturalist. As the exhibit points out, Beatrix Potter addressed death in her work in a very simple and direct manner with children. She was so much more than an author of charming picture books featuring naughty rabbits. She used the deceptively pretty animal images of quarreling geese, crafty foxes and bumbling frogs to explore many dark facets of the human experience.

Here is the text of the letter, for your enjoyment. I copied it onto the back of the museum's floor plan. I didn't have a hard surface to write on, so I had to hold the folded paper in my hand and laboriously copy it, word for word. It took 20 minutes to copy these few words. It was very difficult work, as I had to continually move the paper along my right hand while I wrote with my left. The letter is illustrated with many delicate line drawings of the scenes as described. There are pictograms of a shovel and pail inserted where indicated, below.

My Dear Noel,

Thank you for your nice letter. I should like to see you riding the big dog - here is a picture of Tom Thumb on a mouse. We are going to Savanage next Monday; I am sure you must have enjoyed Felixstow. I daresay you had a [shovel] and a [pail]. I expect to find some shells. I went to the zoo and it rained. The seals seemed to like the rain but most of the animals were in their little houses. The big elephant is dead. What a pity! They went to Mr. Rhind, a chemist, for some medicine, but it died.

It is going to be put in the museum. There is a new lion at the Zoo, which is so savage, it made a great noise. I have got some pretty hyacinths in my garden. The sparrows are naughty. They pull off the flowers. There are two nests, just under the gutter at the top of our house. We see them flying up with grass to make the nest. We do not like it because the little birds fall out onto our door-steps. I hope that you and Eric will have a very good time and with love I remain 

aff. yrs. Beatrix Potter

ONE more little item in the exhibit that caught my fancy ....

William Blake's poem, "The Tyger (From Songs of Experience)", accompanied by a watercolor portrait [artist unknown] of the fierce animal. The opening lines of this poem hold great meaning for me, as I think of a particularly special person.

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

Take a look at a few more of the featured works here on the Morgan Library's site.