Anna Sewell
Anna Sewell was an English author born on March 30, 1820, in Yarmouth, Norfolk. She experienced significant physical challenges due to an ankle injury at age fourteen, which affected her mobility for the rest of her life. Despite these hardships, Sewell developed a passion for horses and painting. She was also an active advocate for education, co-founding a working men's evening institute to support local miners and laborers. Sewell is best known for her novel "Black Beauty: The Autobiography of a Horse," published in 1877. The book, inspired by her sympathy for horses and her desire for their humane treatment, tells the story of a horse's life through various owners, highlighting the importance of kindness and compassion. "Black Beauty" became one of the best-selling books of all time and has had a lasting impact on animal welfare education, influencing organizations like the British and American Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Sewell passed away on April 25, 1878, shortly after the book's publication, leaving behind a legacy that continues to resonate with readers and advocates for animal rights.
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Subject Terms
Anna Sewell
Author
- Born: March 30, 1820
- Birthplace: Yarmouth, Norfolk, England
- Died: April 25, 1878
- Place of death: Old Catton, Norfolk, England
Biography
Anna Sewell was born on March 30, 1820, in Yarmouth, Norfolk, England, to Issac and Mary (Wright) Sewell. About the time she was born, her father’s business was failing and he moved his family to Dalton, where he worked as a bank manager. Sewell was educated at home, helping her mother, who wrote ballads and verses for children, manage the household and eventually becoming her mother’s editor and critic.
An accident at the age of fourteen severely damaged Sewell’s ankle and for the rest of her life she had difficulty walking. However, she was still able to pursue her love of horses and riding. While recuperating from her injuries in Yarmouth, she developed a lifelong love for painting. In 1846, she attended a spa in Marienbad, Germany, for therapy and her condition improved enough to enable her to travel to Spain to visit her brother Philip and his wife. Once home, she was able to take long walks with her mother, but the recovery was short- lived. Now in a physically weakened state, she turned her attention to the study of animals, specifically horses, and helped with household duties. In 1858, she and her mother established a working man’s evening institute to provide schooling for local miners and laborers three evenings a week.
Sewell wrote only one book during her lifetime, receiving twenty pounds for the story which was to become one of the best- selling books of all time, Black Beauty: The Autobiography of a Horse. She wrote the book toward the end of her life, when she was bedridden. With her mother at her side to recopy the pages, Sewell wrote intermittently, whenever she was able, for six years until the book was completed. She was inspired by a book given to her by a friend, Horace Bushnell’s Essay on Animals. Bushnell’s ideas together with her sympathy toward horses convinced her to promote kind and sympathetic treatment of these animals.
In Black Beauty, a well-bred horse tells his life story from idyllic surroundings as a foal on a country estate to worsening treatment as a working horse as he ages and physically deteriorates. Highly didactic and intended for men and boys working with horses, each chapter is short and presents a moral. The book was wildly popular with children for its recounting of Beauty’s moving life story and his wise perspective on human behavior. The ending is happily satisfying, with Beauty finally acquiring a kind owner.
The book was published in 1877, and Sewell died shortly afterward on April 25, 1878, in Old Catton, Norfolk, England. She is buried in a cemetery owned by the Society of Friends near Boston, England. Her novel has been adapted into several motion pictures and other authors have written sequels to her story. An audio version of the story was recorded in 1989. Through her single book, Sewell was able to impact the lives of horses. Both the British Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and its American counterpart have used the book to educate people on the proper treatment of these animals.