Black Beauty
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 This copy of the first edition of the book was dedicated by the author to her mother. It was auctioned off at Christie's in London in June 2006 for £33,000. |
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| Author | Anna Sewell |
|---|---|
| Country | England |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Novel |
| Publisher | Jarrold & Sons |
| Released | 24 November 1877 |
Black Beauty (in full: Black Beauty: The Autobiography of a Horse, first published November 24 1877) is Anna Sewell's first and only novel, composed in the last years of her life between 1871 and 1877 while confined to her house as an invalid.[1]
The story is told in the first person (or "first horse") as an autobiographical memoir told by a highbred horse named Black Beauty—beginning with his carefree days as a foal on an English farm, 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 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.[1]
The book became an immediate best-seller, with Anna living just long enough (five months) to see her first and only novel become a success. Anna said of her purpose in writing "its special aim being to induce kindness, sympathy, and an understanding treatment of horses"[1]—an influence she attributed to an essay on animals she read earlier by Horace Bushnell (1802-1876) entitled "Essay on Animals".[2] 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 abolishing the cruel practice of using 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).[3]
Crippled and unable to walk since a young child, Anna's exposure to horses began early in life when she spent many hours driving her father to and from the station from which he commuted to work. Sewell's introduction to writing began in her youth when she helped edit the works of her mother, Mary Wright Sewell (1797-1884), a deeply religious, popular author of juvenile best-sellers. 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.[3]
Black Beauty was not originally intended as a children's novel, but for people who work with horses. It soon, however, became a children's classic, a novel of education for generations of schoolchildren to the present day. While outwardly teaching animal welfare, it also contains allegorical lessons about how to treat people with kindness, sympathy and respect. Later student editions included further study questions, highlighting the moral theme of each chapter.[4]
Margaret Blount in her book Animal Land says Black Beauty is “the first real animal novel,” “the most famous and best-loved animal book of all time,” and “perhaps the last of the moral tales” (249-50). Susan Chitty calls it “probably the most successful animal story ever written” with more than 30 million sold.[3]
[edit] Characters
Horses:
- Black Beauty/Black Auster/Jack/Darkie—The narrator of the story who earned his name from his dark fur. He always tries his best to serve humans despite the circumstance.
- Duchess/Pet—Beauty's mother, who encourages Beauty to be good from a young age.
- Rob Roy—A fellow black horse from Beauty's original farm.
- Ginger—Named so beacause she "bites", Ginger is a more aggressive horse due to her traumatic upbringing.
- Merrylegs—A short, handsome pony who is polite to humans and horses alike.
- Sir Oliver—A horse who had his tail removed for fashion purposes to his great annoyance and discomfort.
- Peggy—A cab horse who cannot run so fast due to her short legs.
- Captain—A former army horse who encountered horrific treatment and incidents whilst being used for battle.
Beauty's owners
- Farmer Grey—Beauty's first owner.
- Squire Gordon—owner of Birtwick Park, a fine rider, and boss John, James, and Joe.
- John Manly—A coachman who treats his horses with care and respect.
- James Howard—John's stable boy.
- Joe Green—John's younger and less experienced stable boy.
- Earl of W-—An unamed Lord who uses Beauty as a carriage horse
- Reuben Smith—A handsome and charming young man whose downfall is caused by his alcoholism.
- Mr. Barry—A man who tries to treat horses well, but lacks knowledge on horse care.
- Filcher—Barry's horse groom who steals food from the stable.
- Jerry—A kind owner who uses Beauty as a cab horse.
- Jakes—An owner who uses Beauty as a work horse, forcing him to carry heavy loads.
- Nicholas Skinner—A ruthless cab horse driver who wears out horses through hard work and mistreatment.
- Farmer Throughgood—A kind owner who cares for Beauty when he is at his weakest.
[edit] Film adaptations
The book has been adapted into film and television several times, including:
- Black Beauty (1946) at the Internet Movie Database
- Black Beauty (1971) at the Internet Movie Database
- The Adventures of Black Beauty (TV series) (1972) at the Internet Movie Database
- Black Beauty (1994 film). See also Docs Keepin Time, the horse that starred as Black Beauty.
- Additionally, in 1966 Walt Disney Productions produced an LP adaptation on its Disneyland Records label with music by Disney's musical director at the time, Tutti Camarata, complete with narration similar to an old time radio program; Disney has never made an animated or live-action version and it is not known whether one was ever planned by Disney.
[edit] References from other works
- Beautiful Joe was a best-selling 1893 novel about a dog that was directly influenced by Black Beauty and followed a similar path to fame through awareness of cruelty to animals.
- The Pullein-Thompson sisters wrote two sequels to the novel:Black Beauty's Kin and Black Beauty's Family.
- Spike Milligan wrote a parody of the novel called Black Beauty:According to Spike Milligan (1996).
- Phyllis Briggs wrote a sequel Son of Black Beauty (19??).
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b c Merriam-Webster (1995). "Black Beauty". Merriam Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature.
- ^ Gentle Heart: The Story of Anna Sewell, by Jen Longshaw.
- ^ a b c Anna Sewell, by Prof. Waller Hastings, Northern State University, 2004. Archive.org copy.
- ^ For example see the John C. Winston Co 1927 edition.
[edit] External links
- Black Beauty, available at Project Gutenberg.
- Black Beauty, 1877 first edition, scanned book via Internet Archive
- Black Beauty, Penguin Readers Fact Sheet.
