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Estimate: $ 3,000 - $ 5,000
Sewell, Anna (1820-1878) Black Beauty: The Autobiography of a Horse..
London: Jarrold and Sons, [1877].
First edition, octavo; with 8 pages of publisher's ads at rear; illustrated with frontispiece by C. Hewitt; bound in a variation of Carter's binding B, with the title lettered in black instead of gilt, russet publisher's cloth, decorated in gilt and black, terracotta endpapers (scattered foxing and thumbing throughout; expertly recased, neat repairs to spine head, extremities bumped, corners just exposed); 6 1/2 x 4 in.
One of the best-selling works of children's literature of all time, Sewell's Black Beauty is the first English novel written from the point of view of an animal. "Translated from the original equine," the book vividly exposes the cruelties suffered by horses during the Victorian era-- notably the use of the checkrein, which was later abolished due in large part to the novel's widespread influence. Sewell began the book in 1817 at about the same time she learned that her health was in steady decline. Sadly, she passed away five months after the initial publication, never to see its enormous success and the real positive impact it made in favor of the treatment of horses.
