Beatrix Potter: Unseen story The Tale of Kitty-in-Boots to be published with illustrations by Quentin Blake

The Tale of Kitty-in-Boots will be published in September to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Potter's birth

The 1904 edition of The Tales of Beatrix Potter, which Prince Charles had in his nursery (Getty Images)

Beatrix Potter is making a posthumous comeback with the publication of an unseen story featuring an older Peter Rabbit.

The much-loved children’s author died in 1943, leaving The Tale of Kitty-in-Boots unfinished. It was lost for over a century but has since been unearthed and Roald Dahl illustrator Quentin Blake is working on drawings to bring it to life.

Publisher Jo Hanks rediscovered the manuscript two years ago and chose Blake to illustrate it because he “understands the rebelliousness of animal characters and doesn’t patronise children, which was one of Potter’s bugbears”.

Blake was excited to accept the job after taking an instant liking to the story. “It seemed almost incredible when, early in 2015, I was sent the manuscript of a story by Beatrix Potter, one which had lain unpublished for a hundred years and which, with the exception of a single drawing, she had never illustrated,” he said.

“I liked the story immediately, it’s full of incident and mischief and character, and I was fascinated to think that I was being asked to draw pictures for it. I have a strange feeling that it might have been waiting for me.”

Potter described The Tale of Kitty-in-Boots in a 1914 letter to her publisher as being about “a well-behaved prime black Kitty cat who leads rather a double life”. Hanks found the reference in an out-of-print literary history about the author.

Other letters found in the archives of London’s V&A reveal that Potter hoped to finish the story but “interruptions began” including the First World War, marriage and running a farm.


 Beatrix Potter brought everyday animals to life for children by giving them clothes, names and characters
 (TopFoto PA)

Nevertheless, Hanks promises that the tale, which needed only “light editing”, “really is the best of Beatrix Potter”. “It has double identities, colourful villains and a number of favourite characters from other tales (including Mr Tod, Mrs Tiggy-Winkle, Ribby and Tabitha Twitchit),” she told The Bookseller, adding that an “older, slower and portlier” Peter Rabbit also pops up in the story.

Potter's The Tale Of Peter Rabbit was a huge success after being picked up in 1902 by British children's publisher Frederick Warne & Co.

This year marks the 150th anniversary since her birth, with The Tale of Kitty-in-Boots hitting shelves in September in celebration.