A handwritten letter from Beatrix Potter to a young fan has made £8,500 ($12,027) at International Autograph Auctions.

Beatrix Potter addresses the letter to a young fan

It dates to 1808 and includes several small illustrations of rabbits and mice.

She writes: "I have been trying dreadfully hard to think about another story about Peter. I thinked and thinked and thinked last year; but I didn't think enough to fill a book!

"So I made a story about Jemima Puddleduck instead - and it will be in the shops very soon. I hope you will like it."

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