young beatrix and her dog

thanks wikimedia commons {{PD:US}}

Here's one of my heroines, Beatrix Potter, as a girl of 15 with her dog Spot.  A product of a lonely Victorian childhood, Potter grew up to be a tough, unsentimental and thoroughly solid citizen with a constant soft spot for children and pets.  I highly recommend Margaret Lane's biography if you'd like to read up.  And here's a slideshow from the Victoria and Albert Museum on Potter's life in photographs.  No photos of Hunca Munca or Mrs. Tiggywinkle though - what a pity.