Black Beauty (1877) is the only novel of Anna Sewell, told by a horse. From his happy youth in the countryside to the misery of a London cab horse and back to a kind home, Black Beauty's story was written to teach kindness to animals. It became one of the best-selling books ever published.
The story
Black Beauty grows up in a meadow with his mother, who teaches him to be gentle. He is broken in carefully and works for a kind squire, with his friends Ginger, a mare made bitter by cruelty, and the pony Merrylegs.
Sold from owner to owner, he suffers the bearing rein, careless grooms, drunken riders and the hard life of a cab horse in London with the kind cabman Jerry Barker. At last he finds a peaceful home.
A book with a purpose
Anna Sewell said she wrote the book to induce kindness, sympathy and an understanding treatment of horses. It denounced in particular the bearing rein, a strap that forced horses to hold their heads high for fashion.
Unusually for the time, the story is told in the first person by the horse himself, which made readers feel his suffering.
Success
Published by Jarrold and Sons of Norwich in November 1877, it sold well in Britain. In the United States, the animal welfare campaigner George Angell had it printed in huge numbers from 1890 as 'the Uncle Tom's Cabin of the horse'.
It has sold tens of millions of copies and been adapted many times for film and television, and helped change laws on the treatment of animals.
Anecdotes
Written on a sofa
Anna Sewell, an invalid, wrote Black Beauty lying on a sofa over six years, often dictating it to her mother or writing in pencil on scraps of paper.
The bearing rein
After the book, campaigns against the bearing rein grew, and it gradually fell out of use in Britain.
Frequently asked questions
Who tells the story of Black Beauty?
Black Beauty, a horse, in the first person.
Who are Ginger and Merrylegs?
Black Beauty's companions at Birtwick Park: Ginger, a mare made bad-tempered by ill treatment, and Merrylegs, a pony.
Why was Black Beauty written?
To encourage kindness and understanding towards horses.