Anna Sewell
Anna Sewell (1820–1878) was an English novelist best known for Black Beauty, which portrays horses’ treatment and advocates kindness toward animals.
Black Beauty: A novel by Anna Sewell narrated by a horse, tracing his life and the treatment he receives. Sewell’s only published novel made her reputation and carried her animal-welfare message.
Animal narrator: A narrator who is an animal and recounts events from an animal’s perspective. Black Beauty’s first-person horse narrator makes readers encounter treatment through the animal’s viewpoint.
Great Yarmouth: A coastal town in Norfolk, England, where Anna Sewell was born. Sewell’s birthplace anchors her early life in eastern England.
Bearing rein: A strap used to hold a horse’s head in a fixed position, historically common in carriage work. Black Beauty’s account of the bearing rein helped make the device a focus of public criticism.
The Jungle Book: A collection of animal stories by Rudyard Kipling, first published in 1894. Unlike Sewell’s account of domestic working horses, Kipling’s stories center on wild animals and fables.
Society of Friends: A Christian religious movement whose members are commonly known as Quakers. Sewell was raised in a Quaker family, a background associated with her concern for humane conduct.
Anthropomorphism: The attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to nonhuman beings or things. Sewell gives her horse narrator articulate thoughts and feelings to make his experience legible.
Old Catton: A village near Norwich in Norfolk, England, where Anna Sewell spent part of her childhood. Sewell grew up in Norfolk, the region associated with her early years.
Humane Society of the United States: An American animal-protection organization founded in 1954. Its co-founder Marcia Glaser cited Black Beauty as an influence on her concern for animal welfare.
War Horse: A 1982 children’s novel by Michael Morpurgo narrated by a horse during the First World War. Both novels use horse narration, but Morpurgo places his story in wartime rather than Victorian labor.