Black Beauty

Black Beauty by Anna Sewell (1877)

The autobiography of a horse. From a happy colt in an English meadow through years of varying treatment — kindness and cruelty, wealth and poverty — Black Beauty's story changed how the world treats animals.

Historical Significance:
Anna Sewell wrote Black Beauty as her first and only novel while bedridden with a debilitating illness. She dictated portions to her mother, completing it in 1877. She sold it to the publisher Jarrolds for £20 and died five months after publication, never knowing that her book would become one of the bestselling novels of all time (over 50 million copies).

The novel was written specifically to promote the humane treatment of horses. It directly influenced the abolition of the bearing rein (a device that forced horses' heads into uncomfortable positions) and supported the growing animal welfare movement. The RSPCA and American Humane Association used it as advocacy literature. It is credited as the book that changed humanity's relationship with animals.

This public domain classic was originally published in 1877. Free to read and share.