Black Beauty translated from the original Equine, the fictional ‘autobiography’ of a talking horse, first published on 24th November 1877, is Anna Sewell’s only novel, composed in the last years of her life between 1871 and 1877 while confined to her house as an invalid. The unique tale is narrated by a lovely, gentle horse named Black Beauty and has remained a children’s favorite classic from its first publication. According to an estimate, it has sold more than fifty million copies worldwide, and been translated into many languages and delighted generations of children.
As an autobiography written by a horse and told from his point of view, it was indeed an original and unique concept for the time. The book was never intended to be exclusively read by children. It was written as a manual for those who worked with horses so that they would develop more compassion and kindness when dealing with these mute animals. While the book apparently talks about animals, it is a great source of education for human beings too and teaches them how to treat each other with respect, dignity, and kindness.
The book traces the journey of a beautiful and noble horse, born in privileged circumstances whose life takes a turn for the tragic when his wealthy owner falls on hard times. He is sold to a number of different homes, from Earlshall Park, a fashionable home, to a stable that rents out carriages and finally to a London cab driver.
For young readers, it is a delightful tale told by an animal. On other hand, adults would recognize the essential humanitarian appeal made by the author. In fact, such was the impact of the book that it led to several landmark legislations regarding animal welfare in U.S.A. and U.K.
Anna Sewell, (30th March, 1820, Yarmouth, Norfolk, U.K.—25th April, 1878, Old Catton, Norfolk, U.K.), was a British novelist known for the 1877 children’s novel Black Beauty, one of the top ten best selling novels for children ever written.
Her parents were Mary Wright Sewell and Isaac Sewell, and she had a younger brother, Phillip. Anna was very close to her mother, who in the Quaker tradition was a pious, kind, and gentle teacher to her children. Mary Sewell was an author of poetry and popular children’s novels such as Mother’s Last Words and Thy Poor Brother. While walking home from school one day Anna fell and hurt her ankles—she could never walk very well or stand for long periods again. Anna, who had been an active child, was now forced to spend much time at home, dependent on her parents. She taught Sunday School for a time and helped her mother with her writings. When she was at home, she took to traveling about in a chaise pulled by a pony, which greatly helped her overcome her mobility problems.
Anna helped edit her mother’s manuscripts from an early age but was not published herself until she was 57. Her only book, Black Beauty, the first significant children’s story in the English language to focus on animal characters, established the precedent for countless other works. She wrote the book during the last seven years of her life, when she became an invalid confined to her home. The book was published shortly before her death in 1878 and became one of the best children’s classics of all time. The book was also made into a movie three times in 1946, 1971, and 1994.
