Anna Sewell was Born - March 30, 1820

This week (March 27- April 2) in literary history – Poet Louis Simpson was born (March 27, 1923); Novelist Mario Vargas Llosa was born (March 28, 1936); Mary Wollstonecraft and William Godwin were married (March 29, 1797); Novelist Anna Sewell was born (March 30, 1820); Charles Dickens published first installment of The Pickwick Papers (March 31, 1836); Western novelist Vardis Fisher was born (March 31, 1895); Hans Christian Andersen was born (April 2, 1805)

Highlighted story of the week -

On March 30, 1820, Anna Sewell was born in Norfolk, England. The daughter of a successful children’s book writer, she helped edit her mother’s manuscripts from an early age but was not published herself until she was 57. Her novel, Black Beauty, was the first significant children’s story in the English language to focus on animal characters, and established the precedent for countless other works.

Appalled by the cruel treatment of horses by some masters during her day, Sewell wrote the book to induce kindness, sympathy, and an understanding treatment of horses. The story, narrated by the horse, showed Black Beauty’s progression through a series of increasingly cruel owners until the exhausted, ill-treated animal collapses. In the end, the horse is saved by a kind owner.

Sewell wrote the book during the last seven years of her life, when she became an invalid confined to her home. The book was published shortly before her death in 1878 and became one of the best-loved children’s classics of all time. The book was made into a movie three times, in 1946, 1971, and 1994. Anna Sewell is buried at the Quaker Burial Ground in Lamas, Norfolk, England.

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Michael Thomas Barry is the author of six nonfiction books that includes the award winning Literary Legends of the British Isles and America’s Literary Legends. Visit Michael’s website www.michaelthomasbarry.com for more information. His book can be purchased from Amazon through the following link:

 

 

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English Novelist Anna Sewell was born - 1820

English novelist Anna Sewell was born on March 30, 1820 in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England. She is best known as the author of the classic novel Black Beauty. She was raised in a devoutly Quaker family. Her mother, Mary Wright Sewell was a successful author of children's books. When Anna was twelve, the family moved to Stoke Newington where she attended school for the first time. Two years later, however, she slipped while walking home from school and severely injured both of her ankles. Because of mistreatment of her injury, for the rest of her life Anna was unable to stand without a crutch or to walk for any length of time. For greater mobility, she frequently used horse-drawn carriages, which contributed to her love of horses and concern for the humane treatment of animals. Sewell's only published work was Black Beauty (written between 1871- 1877). During this time Anna’s health was in steady decline. She was often so weak that she was confined to her bed and writing was a challenge. She dictated the text to her mother and from 1876 began to write on slips of paper which her mother then transcribed. Although it is now considered a children's classic, she originally wrote it for those who worked with horses. She said "a special aim [was] to induce kindness, sympathy, and an understanding treatment of horses.” Sewell died of hepatitis on April 25, 1878, five months after her book was published. She was buried in the Quaker burial-ground at Lammas near Buxton, Norfolk.

Michael Thomas Barry is the author of Great Britain’s Literary Legends. The book can be purchased from Amazon through the following links:

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