Norman Warne

Norman Dalziel Warne
Norman Warne and his nephew, ca, 1900
Born	1868
Died	25 August 1905 (age 37) Bedford Square, London
Occupation	publisher

Norman Dalziel Warne (1868 – 25 August 1905) was the third son of publisher Frederick Warne, and joined his father's firm Frederick Warne & Co as an editor. In 1900, the company rejected Beatrix Potter's The Tale of Peter Rabbit, but eventually reconsidered and in October 1902, published the book to great success. Norman Warne became Potter's editor and they worked together on several subsequent books and spinoffs such as soft toys and The Game of Peter Rabbit.

In 1904, Potter and Warne worked closely together to develop a tale about two mice and a doll's house. Potter began spending more time at the firm's offices and took several trips to Warne's home to sketch a doll's house he was constructing for his nieces. In July 1905 Warne proposed. Potter accepted, but on 25 August 1905, before a marriage could take place, Warne died suddenly and unexpectedly of leukemia. Potter remained in touch with Warne's sister Millie for many years, and his brothers Harold and Fruing became her editors. The relationship between Potter and Warne became the basis for the film Miss Potter (2006). In 2012, a decision to erect a plaque at Warne's former home in Bedford Square honouring his memory was turned down by English Heritage, presumably because of the lack of funding on English Heritage's part, as they have the funding to erect only twelve to fifteen plaques a year.

In 1894, Frederick Warne retired from active management of the Bedford Street publishing firm bearing his name in London and ceded control to his three sons, Harold, Fruing, and Norman, before his death in 1905. Harold was a managing partner, Fruing was responsible for sales, and Norman for production and some sales. Norman's brothers were both married men, but when the 35-year-old Potter met him in 1901 he was a 33-year-old bachelor living with his widowed mother and his unmarried sister Amelia ("Millie") in the family house in Bedford Square, Bloomsbury. Potter almost always dealt with Norman during negotiations for the publication of Peter Rabbit and their terms of address had evolved from "Sir" and "Madam" to "Mr. Warne" and "Miss Potter" by the time a contract was signed in 1902.