Black Beauty (novel)
Black Beauty is the title of the only book by British author Anna Sewell . The novel was published on November 24, 1877 under the original title Black Beauty: The Autobiography of a Horse ( Black Beauty: The Autobiography of a Horse ) as a "translation from the horse language".
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The novel is told from the perspective of the black stallion Black Beauty and describes the first fifteen years of his life - from a sheltered foal to a riding and carriage horse in an animal-loving and understanding family over several stages downwards. Black Beauty falls into ignorant hands who torment him and his companion, the chestnut mare Ginger, with attachment reins, he is endangered by incorrect treatment by an inexperienced stable boy and chased at high speed over a stony road by a drunk, although he has a loose one Has a horseshoe and is bound to fall. The dangers of incorrect feeding and keeping on dirty litter are also described. As a cab and hired horse in London, Black Beauty almost loses its eyesight due to being housed in a dark stable. Little by little it comes down so much that there is little hope of a happy ending. But when Black Beauty is about to be sold again, he attracts the attention of a little boy who can persuade his grandfather to buy the horse. Fortunately, he falls into the hands of his former stable boy, and the story ends with the reassuring prospect that the animal will now receive its bread of grace and will never be sold again.
background
In her book Sewell not only criticized the mistakes in the keeping of animals and the exploitation of the carriage horses, but also kept an eye on the unfavorable living conditions of many people of their time. She did not immediately achieve her goal of drawing the readers' attention to the cruel conditions in which many workhorses had to live their lives, but the novel became one of the most famous books for young people in the 20th century.
Film adaptations
Black Beauty has been filmed several times. In 1921 two silent films were made under the direction of David Smith and Edward H. Griffith . The first sound film on Black Beauty was made in 1933 and by Phil Rosen . In 1946, Max Nosseck shot what was perhaps the most successful film based on Anna Sewell's model with the then very young animal film star Beauty and with music by Dimitri Tiomkin . In 1971 the cinema version Black Beauty by James Hill with Uschi Glas and Walter Slezak was made , in 1972 the English television series Black Beauty (filmed, among other places, on Stockers Farm in the London suburb of Rickmansworth ), in 1978 an American five-part television series that closely follows the Based on the novel, in 1990 the English sequel to the 1972 series under the name New Adventures with Black Beauty and in 1994 the most famous film adaptation by Caroline Thompson .
Book editions (selection)
- Anna Sewell: Black Beauty . Usborne, London 2018, ISBN 978-1-4749-4061-0 .
- Anna Sewell: Black Beauty . Novel. Translated by Felix Mayer. Anaconda, Cologne 2011, ISBN 978-3-86647-614-1 .
Audio book
- Anna Sewell: Black Beauty: The life story of a horse told by itself , read by Barbara Stoll. 3 CDs, Eifelkrone, Neroth 2007, ISBN 3-937640-57-6 .
