Black Beauty by Sewell, Anna - 1966

London: J.M. Dent & Sons Ltd, 1966. Later edition. Bound ca. 1966 by [Bayntun Rivière] for Brentano's in full blue polished calf, covers with double gilt borders, spine with five raised bands, decoratively tooled in compartments, two red morocco gilt lettering labels, gilt board edges, gilt-turn- ins, all edges gilt, marbled end-papers. Small neat book-plate on front paste-down. Collating xii, 226, with eight full-page color plates and numerous black and white line drawings throughout the text. A Fine copy.

A superlative copy of the classic - and quite novel - story of a horse, told in his own words, wherein he recounts his life as a well bred steed from early childhood in a pleasant meadow, through numerous owners - some kind and some cruel
- until fate returns him to the meadow in which he was born. Though animal autobiographies had been published before for children, Black Beauty stands apart from those in that it offered social criticism of his various owners. Because of that, the book was read, appreciated and loved by adults as well as juveniles. It has never been out of print since its original publication, and it has been adapted to the screen on fourteen different occasions. Ultimately, Black Beauty's continual and lasting value is as one of the most influential arguments for the humane treatment of animals.