A first edition copy of Beatrix Potter's The Tale of Peter Rabbit (1901) made £35,000 ($46,043) at Dreweatts & Bloomsbury earlier today.

Beatrix Potter self-published 250 copies of The Tale of Peter Rabbit in 1901

The book is Potter's debut and one of 250 initial copies she published herself after being unable to secure a commercial publisher.

It proved a huge success, with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle among her earliest customers.

Less than a year later she secured a deal with children's book publishing giant Frederick Warne & Co.

Since then it has sold well over 45m copies worldwide.

This copy is inscribed to her goddaughter, Helen Burton.

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