| Anna Sewell |
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Introduction
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(1820-78)
"I never yet could make out why men are so fond of this sport;
they often hurt themselves, often spoil good horses, and tear up
the fields, and all for a hare, or a fox, or a stag, that they
could get more easily some other way; but we are only horses, and
don't know" (Black Beauty)
Anna Sewell was born on March 20th 1820, in Norfolk in England
and was crippled while still very young. As such, she spent much
time on horse-drawn carriages that allowed her some freedom of
movement, and she developed as a result a great concern for the
proper treatment of animals. Sewell's mother was a successful writer
for children, and Sewell spent time editing the texts and becoming
acquainted with writing.
Sewell wrote only one book: the famous and enduringly popular
Black Beauty (1877). She lived as an invalid for most of
her existence, and Black Beauty - the tale of a mistreated
horse with a happy ending - was written entirely in the last
decade of her life when she was confined to her house. The story
came from the horse's mouth, literally, as the horse spoke of
extremes of joy and suffering. It was perhaps this humanising of
the beast that made it such as success both as a book and as a
catalyst for change in people's attitudes towards animals. There
is a full biography by Susan Chitty called The Woman who wrote
Black Beauty: A Life of Anna Sewell (1971).
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Anna Sewell on the web A detailed biography on Anna Sewell
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Be more creative Creative Quotations from Anna Sewell
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