Characteristically she never used a whip on her own horses, and one of her intentions with Black Beauty was to 'induce kindness, sympathy, and an understanding treatment of horses'.Ĭonfined to her room through ill-health, Anna started writing Black Beauty in 1871 but later abandoned the project until 1876. By her mid-thirties she was no longer able to get around by herself and relied on a pony cart to transport her. When she was fourteen, Anna - who already suffered from a crippling bone disease - had a fall which left her an invalid for the rest of her life. Anna received her education at home from her mother, who as well as instilling in her a sense of duty and religion also filled the house with music, painting and poetry - she was herself an accomplished ballad-writer - and Anna soon proved a capable pianist and artist. She seemed to have a natural affinity with horses, and the great knowledge of horsemanship evident in Black Beauty was born from a lifetime's experience. From an early age she developed a strong love of animals and abhorred any form of cruelty towards them. In addition, animal rights activists would habitually distribute copies of the novel to horse drivers and to people in stables.Īnna Sewell was a kind and generous woman whose great love for horses and desire to see them better treated resulted in the most celebrated animal story of the nineteenth century.īorn into a strict Quaker family who lived at Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, she was brought up to believe in the importance of self-reliance, moral responsibility and 'tender consideration for the Creatures of God'. Two years after the release of the novel, one million copies of Black Beauty were in circulation in the United States. Upon publication of the book, many readers related to the pain of the victimised horses, sympathised and ultimately wanted to see the introduction of reforms that would improve the well-being of horses. In 2003, the novel was listed at number 58 on the BBC's survey The Big Read.

While forthrightly teaching animal welfare, it also teaches how to treat people with kindness, sympathy, and respect.

With fifty million copies sold, Black Beauty is one of the best-selling books of all time. The novel became an immediate best-seller, with Sewell dying just five months after its publication, but having lived long enough to see her only novel become a success. It was composed in the last years of her life, during which she remained in her house as an invalid. 'Black Beauty' is an 1877 novel by English author Anna Sewell.

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