does not cite any sources . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . april 2016 learn how and when to remove this template message frederick warne & co parent company penguin group founded 1865 ; 151 years ago 1865 founder frederick warne country of origin united kingdom headquarters location london official website www.penguin.com meet publishers frederickwarne frederick warne & co is a british publisher famous for children s books particularly those of beatrix potter and for its observer s books which have gained a cult following . contents 1 history 2 beatrix potter books 3 observer s books 4 notes and references 5 external links history edit from nursery rhymes . 1899 printing of charles kingsley s westward ho the company was founded in 1865 by a bookseller turned publisher frederick warne . the new venture replaced an earlier association between warne and george routledge who also went on to found his own publishing company . during the second half of the nineteenth century warne s firm built a reputation based upon its children s list publishing illustrated books by such well known authors and artists as edward lear kate greenaway and walter crane . toward the end of the century frederick warne retired and handed the management of the business over to his three sons harold fruing and norman . warne was among the six publishers to whom beatrix potter submitted her first book the story of a rabbit called peter . as did the other five warne turned the proposal down . people at the company changed their minds however when they saw the privately printed edition of the book in 1901 . they offered to publish it if potter redid the illustrations in color . the next year warne published the tale of peter rabbit and by christmas had sold 20 000 copies . thus began a forty year partnership that saw the publication of twenty two additional little books and the development of a flourishing merchandising program the first of its kind based on a children s book . beatrix potter was engaged to marry norman warne her editor and the youngest of the three warne brothers . however he died in 1905 just a few weeks after contracting leukemia . harold the eldest brother took over as potter s editor . she continued to produce one or two new little books each year for the next eight years until her marriage in 1913 to william heelis . during the next few years potter turned her attention to her farm work but when the company fell on hard times and harold was imprisoned for embezzlement she came to the rescue with another new title to support the old firm . potter who had no children left the rights to her works to warne upon her death . the company continued to publish them ; it also brought out several biographical works about its most renowned author . over the years warne also expanded its nonfiction publishing issuing among others the world famous observer books and the wayside and woodland series which dealt in depth with a range of plant and animal groups most notably insects . both series are now highly collectable . in 1983 frederick warne was acquired by penguin books . as a division of penguin it began developing classic book based children s character brands . the merchandising program was expanded from a base of thirty five licences to more than four hundred by the late 1990s . over the years warne acquired a number of other classic book properties including cicely mary barker s flower fairies in 1989 and eric hill s spot the dog in 1993 . the hallmarks of the publishing program are beautifully produced editions of the original works plus lively spin off books ranging from baby record books and treasuries to board books and novelty titles . all of beatrix potter s original artwork was re photographed in 1986 and the new editions launched in 1987 were critically acclaimed for the quality of reproduction . similarly the flower fairies books were re originated in 1990 . today potter s characters and others appear on a host of products worldwide . they are featured in events around the globe from the peter rabbit themed gardens and events at the macy s flower show to costume appearances live theatrical entertainment and exhibitions of original artwork in such prestigious venues as the mus e d orsay paris the pierpont morgan library new york and the tate gallery london as well as museums in australia and japan . warne has commissioned video and television programming for both peter rabbit and spot and its classic brands are an essential part of childhood internationally . a major motion picture about the life of beatrix potter miss potter starring ren e zellweger as beatrix potter and ewan mcgregor as norman warne was released in 2006 . while the company no longer exists as an independent company it continues to exist as an imprint of penguin group . beatrix potter books edit the twenty three books warne published by beatrix potter were mainly written about animals and were written 1902 1930 . the tale of peter rabbit 1902 the tale of squirrel nutkin 1903 the tailor of gloucester 1903 the tale of benjamin bunny 1904 the tale of two bad mice 1904 the tale of mrs. tiggy winkle 1905 the tale of the pie and the patty pan 1905 the tale of mr. jeremy fisher 1906 the story of a fierce bad rabbit 1906 the story of miss moppet 1906 the tale of tom kitten 1907 the tale of jemima puddle duck 1908 the tale of samuel whiskers or the roly poly pudding 1908 the tale of the flopsy bunnies 1909 the tale of ginger and pickles 1909 the tale of mrs. tittlemouse 1910 the tale of timmy tiptoes 1911 the tale of mr. tod 1912 the tale of pigling bland 1913 appley dapply s nursery rhymes 1917 the tale of johnny town mouse 1918 cecily parsley s nursery rhymes 1922 the fairy caravan 1929 the tale of little pig robinson 1930 observer s books edit main article observer s books from 1937 to 2003 warne published the observer s books series of small pocket sized books now collector s items . the first observer guide was published in 1937 and was on the subject of british birds . the same year warne published a second book on british wild flowers . by 1941 warne had published the first six observer s books . in 1942 a special edition book was brought out on airplanes . this book had no number in the series as it was brought out to help people spot enemy planes during world war ii . it was printed again in 1943 and in 1945 . when warne was acquired by penguin books in 1983 warne brought out new editions of the observer s books . notes and references edit external links edit frederick warne at penguin books frederick warne archive university of reading special collections frederick warne archive university of bristol library special collections v t e penguin random house random house usa crown crown broadway harmony hogarth three rivers ten speed watson guptill knopf doubleday knopf doubleday everyman s library us pantheon schocken vintage random house ballantine bantam dell del rey dial modern library spectra villard children s beginner books golden information books on tape fodor s living language the princeton review prima games uk cornerstone hutchinson random house william heinemann ebury bbc books ebury del rey fodor s rider virgin books 90 % transworld bantam doubleday vintage publishing the bodley head chatto & windus harvill secker jonathan cape vintage canada mcclelland & stewart douglas gibson books tundra books new canadian library other companhia das letras 45 % penguin random house grupo editorial alfaguara penguin group uk dorling kindersley hamish hamilton ladybird penguin penguin classics puffin rough guides viking warne us alpha author solutions authorhouse iuniverse trafford xlibris dutton penguin putnam riverhead sentinel tarcher viking berkley publishing group ace berkley new american library jove plume roc children s dial young readers dutton children s firebird g. p. putnam s sons grosset & dunlap philomel price stern sloan puffin warne parents bertelsmann pearson plc v t e victorian era children s literature authors henry cadwallader adams r. m. ballantyne lucy lyttelton cameron lewis carroll christabel rose coleridge maria edgeworth evelyn everett green juliana horatia ewing frederic w. farrar g. e. farrow agnes giberne anna maria hall l. t. meade g. a. henty frances hodgson burnett thomas hughes richard jefferies charles kingsley w. h. g. kingston rudyard kipling andrew lang frederick marryat george macdonald mary louisa molesworth kirk munroe e. nesbit beatrix potter william brighty rands talbot baines reed elizabeth missing sewell anna sewell mary martha sherwood flora annie steel robert louis stevenson hesba stretton charlotte elizabeth tonna charlotte maria tucker charlotte mary yonge illustrators eleanor vere boyle gordon browne randolph caldecott thomas crane walter crane george cruikshank thomas dalziel engraver richard doyle h. h. emmerson edmund evans engraver kate greenaway sydney prior hall edward lear harold robert millar arthur rackham j. g. sowerby millicent sowerby john tenniel books list of 19th century british children s literature titles types toy book yellow back penny dreadful publishers routledge marcus ward & co. frederick warne & co companies portal books portal authority control worldcat identities viaf 312734242 lccn no2005026988 bnf cb14280844j data retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title frederick warne % 26 co & oldid 729352007 categories book publishing companies of the united kingdompearson plcpublishing companies established in 1865hidden categories articles lacking sources from april 2016all articles lacking sourceswikipedia articles with viaf identifierswikipedia articles with lccn identifierswikipedia articles with bnf identifiers navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search 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