Anna Sewell (1820–1878)
Author of Black Beauty: The Autobiography of a Horse
About the Author
Anna Sewell, March 30, 1820 - April 25, 1878 Anna Sewell was on March 30, 1820 in Yarmouth, Norfolk, England. She was raised a Quaker by her father a bank manager and her mother, a children's novelist. At the age of fourteen, Sewell hurt her knee during a fall and the injury never healed right. show more Even though she could not walk well, she could still ride horses and drive a horse drawn buggy. It was this form of freedom that sparked her concern for the welfare of horses. She wrote "Black Beauty" when she was in her fifties, but died a year after it was published in 1877. While she never earned much from the book while she was alive, after her death, the novel snowballed into a something extraordinary. The book was about the abuses horses sustained in their lifetimes, but was told from the unique viewpoint of the horse. Even though the book was intended for children, it impacted all generations and caused everyone who read it to take a look at the inhumane treatment horses received. In the one hundred plus years since "Black Beauty" had been published, over 30 million copies have been printed. At least eight motion pictures have been made based on the novel and it is a well known children's classic. Anna Sewell died on April 25, 1878 in Old Catton, Norfolk. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Works by Anna Sewell
The Enchanted Collection: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, The Secret Garden, Black Beauty, The Wind in the Willows,… (2012) 53 copies
Black Beauty (Illustrated): The 1877 Classic Edition with Original Illustrations (2024) 42 copies, 1 review
Illustrated Classics - Black Beauty: Abridged Novels With Review Questions (2020) 26 copies, 1 review
DK Classics: Black Beauty 18 copies
Black Beauty - 1945 edition 3 copies
IIC BLACK BEAUTY, NULL 3 copies
Black Beauty (Jugendklassiker) 2 copies
Apple Classics: Black Beauty 2 copies
Black Beauty [abridged - Vance] 2 copies
Black Beauty by Anna Sewell from Young Reader's Classics (Young Reader's Classics, Black Beauty) 2 copies
"Van Gool's" Black Beauty 2 copies
Lucile 2 copies
RARE 1927 COLOR ILLUSTRATED BLACK BEAUTY AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A HORSE GIFT IDEA [Hardcover] ANNA SEWELL 1 copy
SWART GLORIE 1 copy
Black Beauty 1 copy
VIDEO Black Beauty 1 copy
6-Volume Children's Classics Set: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea; Black Beauty; The Little Lame Prince;… (1956) 1 copy
Zwarte Prins 1 copy
Sewell's Works (20 vols.) 1 copy
Black Beauty (Condensed) 1 copy
הסיח השחור 1 copy
Black Beauty Audiobook 1 copy
Black Beauty-CD 1 copy
Black Beauty 8th Book in The Boston Gloe Series (Black Beauty in Boston Globe Family Classics, 8) (2005) 1 copy
Černý krasavec 1 copy
Černý hřebec 1 copy
Fagri Blakkur 1 copy
Snug Corner Series 1 copy
Associated Works
The Illustrated Treasury of Children's Literature, Volumes 1-2 (1955) — Contributor — 476 copies, 4 reviews
The Big Book of Favorite Horse Stories: Twenty-Five Outstanding Stories by Distinguished Authors (1965) — Contributor — 163 copies, 1 review
The Children's Treasury: Best Loved Stories and Poems from Around the World (1987) — Contributor — 156 copies, 2 reviews
Courage of Black Beauty [1957 film] — Original book — 2 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Birthdate
- 1820-03-30
- Date of death
- 1878-04-25
- Burial location
- Quaker Burial Ground, Lammas, Norfolk, England, UK
- Gender
- female
- Nationality
- UK
- Country (for map)
- England, UK
- Birthplace
- Yarmouth, England, UK
- Place of death
- Old Catton, Norfolk, England, UK
- Places of residence
- Yarmouth, Norfolk, England, UK (birth)
Old Catton, Norfolk, England, UK (death)
Wick, England, UK
Dalton, England, UK
Lancing, West Sussex, England, UK
Brighton, Sussex, England, UK - Education
- at home
- Occupations
- novelist
editor - Relationships
- Sewell, Mrs. Mary (mother)
- Short biography
- Anna Sewell was the daughter of popular English poet and children's writer Mary Sewell and her husband Isaac, devout Quakers. Anna was disabled as the result of a childhood injury and was confined to home for much of her life. She helped edit her mother's works. In 1845, the family moved to Lancing in West Sussex, and it may have been here, with the acquisition of a pony chaise, that Anna developed her love of horses. Her only published novel was Black Beauty (1877), but its lasting fame and popularity is so great as to make her one of the all-time bestselling writers. It was published when she was 57 years old, and she died five months later.
Members
Discussions
Possible Children's Story From Horse's Perspective in Name that Book (January 2017)
Reviews
Black Beauty, a book that has sold millions of copies since it was first published in 1877, has gained somewhat curious status as a children's classic. The author originally wrote it as a work for adults to promote awareness of cruelty to horses. She succeeded in this when it became very popular soon after publication. It's the story of a horse who starts out his life well taken care of, but through circumstances beyond his control goes through a series of masters both kind and terrible.
Adults may find the author's message heavy-handed, but there are definitely a few gems, such as “...if we see cruelty or wrong that we have the power to stop, and do nothing, we make ourselves sharers in the guilt,” and “...we have no right to distress any of God's creatures without a very good reason; we call them dumb animals, and so they are, for they cannot tell us how they feel, but they do not suffer less because they have no words.”
For many children this is their first horse book and they want their parents to read it to them over and over again. Other children, however, might be upset by the scenes of animal cruelty on the way to the happy ending. You know your child best, so adult guidance is suggested.… (more)
Adults may find the author's message heavy-handed, but there are definitely a few gems, such as “...if we see cruelty or wrong that we have the power to stop, and do nothing, we make ourselves sharers in the guilt,” and “...we have no right to distress any of God's creatures without a very good reason; we call them dumb animals, and so they are, for they cannot tell us how they feel, but they do not suffer less because they have no words.”
For many children this is their first horse book and they want their parents to read it to them over and over again. Other children, however, might be upset by the scenes of animal cruelty on the way to the happy ending. You know your child best, so adult guidance is suggested.… (more)
“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” ― Mahatma Gandhi
I had never actually owned a copy of this wonderful classic until very recently when I spotted this one well worn and loved in a house clear out of a relative and when I was asked if there was anything I would like to take as a memento I was so happy to give a home to this stunning book. Black Beauty was always out on loan from my school library and as a child I remembering constantly requesting the one copy as it was one the most popular read along with Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
I adore animals of all shapes and sizes and cannot abide any sort of animal cruelty but this book brings back wonderful childhood memories for me and I think its an important book for children to read and understand that animals have feelings and they too feel pain just as humans do.
What a unique, heart-breaking and compelling read that is as beautiful and poignant today as it was when I read it as a 10 year old girl and am sure it was way back in 1877. The story is narrated in the first person as an autobiographical memoir told by Black Beauty himself. The Story begins with happy times as a colt on an English farm with his mother and the book continues as he goes through life.
This is a tale of hardships ,cruelty and kindness that broke my heart as child and all over again as an adult. It teaches real life lessons as bad things happen in life and yet there is always goodness out there somewhere, we just have to look for it sometimes.
We shall all have to be judged according to our works, whether they be towards man or towards beast.”
― Anna Sewell, Black Beauty
A beautiful book that has pride of place on my bookshelf for I hope many years to come.… (more)
I had never actually owned a copy of this wonderful classic until very recently when I spotted this one well worn and loved in a house clear out of a relative and when I was asked if there was anything I would like to take as a memento I was so happy to give a home to this stunning book. Black Beauty was always out on loan from my school library and as a child I remembering constantly requesting the one copy as it was one the most popular read along with Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
I adore animals of all shapes and sizes and cannot abide any sort of animal cruelty but this book brings back wonderful childhood memories for me and I think its an important book for children to read and understand that animals have feelings and they too feel pain just as humans do.
What a unique, heart-breaking and compelling read that is as beautiful and poignant today as it was when I read it as a 10 year old girl and am sure it was way back in 1877. The story is narrated in the first person as an autobiographical memoir told by Black Beauty himself. The Story begins with happy times as a colt on an English farm with his mother and the book continues as he goes through life.
This is a tale of hardships ,cruelty and kindness that broke my heart as child and all over again as an adult. It teaches real life lessons as bad things happen in life and yet there is always goodness out there somewhere, we just have to look for it sometimes.
We shall all have to be judged according to our works, whether they be towards man or towards beast.”
― Anna Sewell, Black Beauty
A beautiful book that has pride of place on my bookshelf for I hope many years to come.… (more)
Lists
Sonlight Books (1)
KID BOOKS (1)
Unread books (1)
BBC Top Books (1)
1970s (1)
BBC Big Read (1)
Elevenses (1)
Overdue Podcast (1)
Female Author (1)
4th Grade Books (1)
6th Grade (1)
Awards
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Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 180
- Also by
- 18
- Members
- 23,456
- Popularity
- #895
- Rating
- 3.9
- Reviews
- 236
- ISBNs
- 1,128
- Languages
- 25
- Favorited
- 10
Awards: Newbery Medal for The Hero and the Crown
Newbery Honor for The Blue Sword
Mythopoeic Award for Adult Literature for Sunshine
World Fantasy Award for Imaginary Lands