Black Beauty

6C Anna Sewell. Illustrated by Cecil Aldin. London: Jarrods, ca.1940

Description

Black Beauty, written by Anna Sewell and published in 1877, is a novel told from the perspective of a horse, chronicling his life from carefree foal to working animal facing both kindness and cruelty. Through the voice of Black Beauty, Sewell exposes the harsh realities of 19th-century treatment of horses—overwork, harsh bits, and neglect—while advocating for compassion, humane care, and ethical responsibility toward animals. The book was groundbreaking in giving a non-human narrator a fully realized, empathetic voice, and it became an immediate moral and social success, influencing public attitudes toward animal welfare. Today, Black Beauty is recognized as a classic of children’s literature and a seminal work in the genre of animal fiction.

Notes

Orange cloth binding with illustrations and lettering in black to cover and spine. Original jacket which is rare to find. Some sun fading to spine of jacket and chipping at the points. Red illustrated endpapers. Charming inscription in blue ink on half title “to Margaret with Best Wishes from Mr. Johnson Xmas 1942”. Very good condition.