The Queen's Reading Room

Black Beauty

By Anna Sewell

I’ve read ‘Black Beauty’ sporadically since childhood and never seem to tire of this heartbreaking and moralistic tale, told through the eyes of a handsome black thoroughbred.
~ Her Majesty Queen Camilla
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Featured in: Season 11

Publish Date: 1877

Black Beauty is a handsome, sweet-tempered but strong-spirited young horse, used to galloping free in the fresh green meadows with his beloved mother, Duchess, and their kind master. But when his owners are forced to sell him, Black Beauty goes from a life of comfort and kindness to one of hard labour and cruelty. He bravely works as hard as he can, enduring hardships and fostering loyal friendships along the way. Charming and timeless, Black Beauty is an uplifting story of strength, survival and empathy in the face of adversity. The original horse story that inspired a thousand pony books, Black Beauty sparked a new wave of animal cruelty awareness and remains a must-read for any animal lover!

Explore Black Beauty

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Anna Sewell
Black Beauty
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Watch

Her Majesty The Queen
On Her Love of Black Beauty
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History of the Hansom Cab
Inspiration for Black Beauty
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Tools
Courtesy of Redwings Horse Sanctuary
calam-lynch-reads-black-beauty

Watch

Calam Lynch
Reads Black Beauty
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Her Majesty The Queen
Visits Anna Sewell’s House
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Moorland Mousie
Books Inspired by Black Beauty
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Black Beauty
Film Adaptations
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Christine Pullein-Thompson; Diana Pullein-Thompson; Josephine Pullein-Thompson
© Sam Barker
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Front Plate of First Edition of Black Beauty, Inscribed by Anna Sewell
Courtesy of Redwings Horse Sanctuary
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Anti-Bearing Rein Campaign
Influenced by Black Beauty
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Anna Sewell Memorial Fountain
Ansonia, Connecticut

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