Black Beauty: His Grooms and Companions. by Anna Sewell - 1877: The Autobiography of a Horse. Translated from the Original Equine.

The Autobiography of a Horse. Translated from the Original Equine.

Published by Jarrold and Sons, London; 1877. First Edition, First Printing.

Extremely rare in condition such as this. Highly collectible.

This is a lovely, collectible copy of this extremely rare first edition of Anna Sewell's only publication. She completed the novel, in spite of her ill health and sold it to her mother's publishers for £40, who published it on 24 November 1877 when she was 57. She wrote it for those who worked with horses with the aim 'being to induce kindness, sympathy, and an understanding treatment of horses' (Mrs Bayly, 272) and it has gone on to become one of the most cherished children's classics.

Bound in the original red cloth binding with gilt and black design [variant of Carter's B binding]. Engraved frontispiece. Preserved in a Fine red morocco folding case. This is an excellent example of this much-loved children's first edition and the boards are smart and in lovely conditions, depicting the horse's head on the front. There are just some minor signs of ageing, as might be expected on a book of this age. The hinges are weakening a little and there is some wear to the corners, edges and spine. There is some minor rubbing to the boards. Apart from these small signs of age, the binding is in excellent condition.

Inside, the pages are remarkably clean and bright, with just some small signs of foxing and toning to the edges. A few page corners are creased where they have been folded and there are a couple of faint pencil marks to the endpapers. There is a little chipping to the paper affixed to inside of the front board and slight cracking to the spine can be seen inside the front board, and again in the centre of the book. In spite of these small points, this book is in beautiful condition, indeed it is very rare to find a children's first edition of this age so well preserved, with the 8 pages of publisher's advertisements at the end. In all a very rare and collectible first edition of this beloved children's classic.