The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies sequels are the best known and most successful of Potter's books. The author had an affinity for rabbits; she lived with them as pets and observed them closely for years. Though she once wrote that rabbits were creatures of "warm volatile temperaments" and were "shallow and extremely transparent", she invested her rabbits with a variety of characterizations consistent with the nature of the animal. All the rabbit tales were inspired in part by Joel Chandler Harris's Uncle Remus stories, which Potter began illustrating as early as 1893 in an attempt to find career direction and probably because they featured a
Johannes Remus Quietanus of Padua in 1608 where he studied medicine. There he was also acquainted with Galileo. In Italy, he took up the latinized name Johannes Remus Quietanus and converted to Catholicism. In 1609, he made a southbound trip to Sicily and Malta. In 1611, he was in Rome where he sent the first letter to Kepler. In Rome, Remus Quietanus was well received by the pontifical circle. He befriended a number of cardinals and Giovanni Faber, secretary of the Accademia dei Lincei. He made astronomical observations, especially solar and lunar eclipses, and wrote two pamphlets on this subject. In 1618, Remus