First Students' Classics

 Anna Sewell (1820- 1878) was born in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England. Her father, Isaac Sewell, was a banker, and her mother, Mary Wright, was a successful writer of children’s books. Sewell had one younger brother called Philip.

She was raised mostly in London and educated at home. When she was twelve, the family moved to Stoke Newington, where Sewell first attended school. Two years later, however, she slipped while walking home from school and severely injured both of her ankles. Her father moved to Brighton in 1836, hoping that the change in climate would help cure her. But no hope came. Sewell could never again walk without a crutch. She frequently used horse-drawn carriages for travelling, which contributed to her love of horses and concern for the humane treatment of animals. Her only publication was Black Beauty, which she wrote between 1871 and 1877. During this time, her health declined.

Although now considered a children’s classic, she originally wrote it for those who worked with horses. Anna said, “Its special aim being to induce kindness, sympathy, and an understanding treatment of horses.” The book’s sales broke publishing records; it is said to be, ‘The sixth best seller in the English language.’

Sewell died on 25 April 1878, just five months after the book’s publication, living long enough to see the book’s initial success.

The narrator of the book is a horse who talks of the extremes of joy and suffering. It was perhaps this humanizing of the beast that made the book such a success and changed people’s attitudes towards animals.