34-498: Black Beauty: His Grooms and Companions, the Autobiography of a Horse is an 1877 novel by English author Anna Sewell . It was written from a horse as main character's perspective. She wrote it in the last years of her life, during which she was bedridden and seriously ill. 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
68-635: A brother named Philip, who was an engineer in Europe. At the age of 14, Anna fell while walking home from school in the rain and injured both ankles. Through the mistreatment of the injury, she became unable to walk or stand for any length of time for the rest of her life. Disabled and unable to walk, she began learning about horses, spending many hours driving her father to and from the station from which he commuted to work. Her dependence on horse-drawn transportation fostered her respect for horses. Sewell's introduction to writing began in her youth when she helped edit
102-648: A job in Brighton , in the hope that the climate there would help cure her. At about the same time, both Sewell and her mother left the Society of Friends to join the Church of England , though both remained active in evangelical circles. Her mother expressed her religious faith most noticeably by writing a series of evangelical children's books, which Sewell helped to edit, though all the Sewells, and Mary Sewell's family,
136-461: A lesson or moral typically related to the kindness, sympathy, and understanding treatment of horses, with Sewell's detailed observations and extensive descriptions of horse behaviour lending the novel a good deal of verisimilitude . The book describes conditions among London horse-drawn cab drivers, including the financial hardship caused to them by high licence fees and low, legally fixed fares . A page footnote in some editions says that soon after
170-405: A single payment of £40 (£3,456 or US$ 4,630 in 2017) and the book was published the same year. After the publication of her only novel, Black Beauty , Sewell fell seriously ill. She was in extreme pain, discomfort and completely bedridden for the following months, and she died on April 25, 1878, aged 58 of hepatitis or tuberculosis , only five months after the publication of Black Beauty . She
204-528: A success. With fifty million copies sold, Black Beauty is one of the best-selling books of all time. While forthrightly teaching animal welfare , it also teaches how to treat people with kindness, sympathy, and respect. In 2003, the novel was listed at number 58 on the BBC's survey The Big Read . It is seen as a forerunner of the pony book . Anna Sewell was born in Great Yarmouth , England, and had
238-437: Is considered one of the top ten best-selling novels for children, although the author intended it for adults. Sewell died only five months after the publication of Black Beauty , but long enough to see her only novel become a success. Sewell was born on March 30, 1820, in Great Yarmouth , Norfolk , into a devout Quaker family. Her father was Isaac Phillip Sewell (1793–1879), and her mother, Mary Wright Sewell (1798–1884),
272-465: Is considered to be one of the first English novels to be written from the perspective of an animal, in this case a horse. Although it is considered a children's classic, Sewell originally wrote it for those who worked with horses. She said "a special aim was to induce kindness, sympathy, and an understanding treatment of horses". In many respects the book can be read as a guide to horse husbandry, stable management and humane training practices for colts. It
306-401: Is considered to have had an effect on reducing cruelty to horses; for example, the use of bearing reins , which are particularly painful for a horse, was one of the practices highlighted in the novel. In the years after the book's publication, they eventually fell out of favour. Sewell sold the novel to Norwich publisher Jarrolds on 24 November 1877, when she was 57 years old. She received
340-554: Is narrated in the first person as an autobiographical memoir told by the titular horse named Black Beauty—beginning with his carefree days as a foal on an English farm with his mother, to his difficult life pulling cabs in London, to his happy retirement in the country. Along the way, he meets with many hardships and recounts many tales of cruelty and kindness. Each short chapter recounts an incident in Black Beauty's life containing
374-674: Is not consecrated, but for anybody to just pull down gravestones of any Quaker, whether it's Anna Sewell or not, well, I think it's despicable". The gravestones of Anna, her parents and maternal grandparents were subsequently placed in a flint-and-brick wall outside the old Lammas Quaker meeting house. In 2020, a street in Chichester , West Sussex , was named in Sewell's honour on the Keepers Green estate. Verisimilitude (fiction) Too Many Requests If you report this error to
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#1732779843221408-586: Is now seen as a children's book. Narrated by the main character, Black Beauty, the novel is read by thousands of children worldwide. Sewell uses anthropomorphism in Black Beauty . The text advocates the fairer treatment of horses in Victorian England. The story is narrated from Black Beauty's perspective and resultantly readers arguably gained insight into how horses suffered through their use by human beings with restrictive technical objects like
442-419: Is structured in a way that makes him similar to those he serves. The horses in the text have reactions as well as emotions and characteristics, like love and loyalty, which are similar to those of human beings. Coslett emphasizes that, while Black Beauty is not the first book written in the style of an animal autobiography, it is a novel that "allows the reader to slide in and out of horse-consciousness, blurring
476-635: The Encyclopedia of Animal Rights and Animal Welfare , Bernard Unti calls Black Beauty "the most influential anti-cruelty novel of all time". Comparisons have also been made between Black Beauty and the most important social protest novel in the United States, Uncle Tom's Cabin , by Harriet Beecher Stowe, on account of the strong degree of outrage and protest action that both novels triggered in society. The book has been adapted into film and television several times, including: Black Beauty
510-438: The " bearing rein " and " blinkers " as well as procedures like cutting off the tails of the horses. For instance, Ginger describes the physical effects of the "bearing rein" to Black Beauty, by stating, "it is dreadful... your neck aching until you don't know how to bear it... its hurt my tongue and my jaw and the blood from my tongue covered the froth that kept flying from my lips". Tess Coslett highlights that Black Beauty's story
544-587: The Walled Garden of Apartheid: Growing up White in Segregated South Africa , writes that this "fact" was a standing joke among her circle of friends, invented to make fun of the "ignorance of the censors"—the idea being that Black Beauty had been banned "because the censors thought it referred to a black woman." Upon publication of the book, many readers related to the pain of the victimized horses, sympathized and ultimately wanted to see
578-594: The Wrights, engaged in many other good works. Sewell assisted her mother, for example, to establish a working men's club , and worked with her on temperance and abolitionist campaigns. In 1845, the family moved to Lancing , and Sewell's health began to deteriorate. She travelled to Europe the following year to seek treatment. On her return, the family continued to relocate – to Abson near Wick in 1858 and to Bath in 1864. In 1866, Sewell's brother Philip's wife died, leaving him with seven young children to care for, and
612-463: The book to the local publishers, Jarrold & Sons . The book broke records for sales and is the "sixth best seller in the English language." By telling the story of a horse's life in the form of an autobiography and describing the world through the eyes of the horse, Anna Sewell broke new literary ground. Sewell died of hepatitis or tuberculosis on 25 April 1878, only five months after the novel
646-439: The book was published, the difference between 6-day cab licences (not allowed to trade on Sundays) and 7-day cab licences (allowed to trade on Sundays) was abolished and the cab licence fee was much reduced. Black Beauty is considered to be one of the first fictional animal autobiographies. Originally meant to be informative literature read by adults on the norms of horse cruelty and preventions of these unjust acts, Black Beauty
680-468: The checkrein (or " bearing rein ", a strap used to keep horses' heads high, fashionable in Victorian England but painful and damaging to a horse's neck). Black Beauty also mentions the use of blinkers on horses, concluding that this use is likely to cause accidents at night due to interference with "the full use of" a horse's ability to "see much better in the dark than men can." The story
714-608: The following year the Sewells moved to Old Catton , a village outside the city of Norwich in Norfolk, to support him. While living in Old Catton, Sewell wrote the manuscript of Black Beauty – in the period between 1871 and 1877. During this time her health was declining; she was often so weak that she was confined to her bed. Writing was a challenge. She dictated the text to her mother and from 1876 began to write on slips of paper which her mother then transcribed. The book
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#1732779843221748-417: The graveyard at Lamas was bulldozed by contractors under the direction of Mrs Wendy Forsey without prior warning or permission. Tombstones, graves and cypress trees were removed and dumped at the edge of the burial ground. The act was condemned by locals and Council Chairman John Perkins, who said: "I know the land belongs to a private person but I would almost say it was as bad as vandalism. I know Quaker ground
782-612: The human/animal divide". Dwyer suggests that "by the end of the nineteenth century the concern for animal welfare was often mediated by considerations of utility", implying that these animals (horses) were seen to get the job done by any means rather than the approach that they could be demonizing the animal. Published in 1877, in the last years of Anna Sewell's life, Black Beauty sold over 50 million copies worldwide in 50 different languages. This different viewpoint sparked people's interest to speak for horses' well-being and implement legislation. According to Sewell, providing information
816-437: The introduction of reforms that would improve the well-being of horses. Two years after the release of the novel, one million copies of Black Beauty were in circulation in the United States. In addition, animal rights activists would habitually distribute copies of the novel to horse drivers and to people in stables. The depiction of the "bearing rein" in Black Beauty spurred so much outrage and empathy from readers that its use
850-418: The novel was "to induce kindness, sympathy, and an understanding treatment of horses"—an influence she attributed to an essay on animals she read earlier by Horace Bushnell (1802–1876) entitled "Essay on Animals". Her sympathetic portrayal of the plight of working animals led to a vast outpouring of concern for animal welfare and is said to have been instrumental in the abolition of the cruel practice of using
884-554: The public library in Ansonia, Connecticut , in the United States of America. It was donated by Caroline Phelps Stokes , a philanthropist known for her work supporting animal welfare, in 1892. A memorial fountain to Sewell is located at the junction of Constitution Hill and St. Clement's Hill in Norwich, which also marks the entrance to Sewell Park . The fountain was placed in 1917 by Sewell's niece Ada Sewell. On 1 September 1984,
918-492: The works of her mother, Mary Wright Sewell (1797–1884), a deeply religious, popular author of juvenile best-sellers. Anna Sewell never married or had children. In visits to European spas, she met many writers, artists, and philanthropists. Her only book was Black Beauty , written between 1871 and 1877 in her house at Old Catton . During this time, her health was declining, and she could barely get out of bed. Her dearly loved mother often had to help her with her illness. She sold
952-498: Was a successful author of children's books. She had one sibling, a younger brother named Philip. The children were largely educated at home by their mother due to a lack of money for schooling. In 1822, Isaac's business, a small shop, failed and the family moved to Dalston , London. Life was difficult for the family, and Isaac and Mary frequently sent Philip and Anna to stay with Mary's parents in Buxton, Norfolk . In 1832, when she
986-553: Was adapted for the stage in 2011 by playwright James Stone. The play was performed at the Broughton Hall Estate, North Yorkshire and Epsom Racecourse, Surrey. The production was a critical success and was performed around the UK in 2012. Anna Sewell Anna Sewell ( / ˈ sj uː əl / ; 30 March 1820 – 25 April 1878) was an English novelist who wrote the 1877 novel Black Beauty , her only published work. It
1020-590: Was buried on 30 April 1878 at Quaker burial ground in Lamas near Buxton, Norfolk , not far from Norwich. Sewell's birthplace in Church Plain, Great Yarmouth has been the home to a museum and a tea shop and is leased by Redwings Horse Sanctuary . The house in Old Catton where she wrote Black Beauty is known as Anna Sewell House. There is an Anna Sewell memorial fountain and horse trough outside
1054-465: Was her original goal of horse injustice. Although the shift of perspectives was seen as good for some, it was also an issue to others including horse owners and people who sold such equipment for horses (equipment like blinders). It has been alleged that Black Beauty was banned in some countries, e.g. South Africa, for containing the words "Black" and "Beauty" during its apartheid restrictions on African natives. However, Claire Datnow, in her memoir Behind
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1088-417: Was not only abolished in Victorian England, but public interest in anti-cruelty legislation in the United States also grew significantly. The arguably detrimental social practices concerning the use of horses in Black Beauty inspired the development of legislation in various states that would condemn such abusive behaviours towards animals. The impact of the novel is still very much recognized today. Writing in
1122-472: Was published, but she lived long enough to see its initial success. She was buried on 30 April 1878 in the Quaker burial-ground at Lammas near Buxton , Norfolk, where a wall plaque marks her resting place. Her birthplace in Church Plain, Great Yarmouth , is now a museum. Although Black Beauty is looked at as a children's novel, Sewell did not write the novel for children. She said that her purpose in writing
1156-443: Was twelve, the family moved to Stoke Newington and Sewell attended school for the first time. At fourteen, Sewell slipped and severely injured her ankles. For the rest of her life, she could not stand without a crutch or walk for any length of time. For greater mobility, she frequently used horse-drawn carriages, which contributed to her love of horses and concern for the humane treatment of animals. In 1836, Sewell's father took
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