1877 first edition cover. X

Black Beauty, a novel by English author Anna Sewell, was first published on the 24^th of November, 1877.

Considered to be a story about animal rights, the book is about the life of a horse, told in autobiographical form.

Sewell had been barely able to walk since she was fourteen, when injuries to both her ankles were incorrectly treated, and she was an invalid when the book was written and published.

While she lived to see Black Beauty’s initial success, she died of an illness only five months afterwards.