First edition of Black Beauty to raise money for a horse charity to be published by the University of East Anglia

The University of East Anglia (UEA) is publishing a special edition of Black Beauty in collaboration with Redwings Horse Sanctuary, which will raise funds to help the horses, ponies, donkeys and mules in their care.

The UEA Publishing Project, based in Norwich, and Redwings, the largest horse sanctuary in the UK - who last year took on guardianship of the author’s birthplace, Anna Sewell House in Great Yarmouth - made the announcement today (Thursday 30th March) on what would have been her 203rd birthday.

There have been countless editions of the novel – one of only a handful of works to have sold more than 50 million copies around the world and remain in print 150 years after publication – but never before has its sale been used to directly benefit the animals Anna loved so much.

The special edition will be published in November and is available for pre-order here now for the advance price of £8 (usual price £9.99). Half of all proceeds will go to Redwings.

It has a foreword by eminent children’s author Dame Jacqueline Wilson, creator of Tracy Beaker and lifelong Black Beauty fan, and an afterword from Professor Thomas Ruys Smith of the UEA, a specialist in 19th century literature. It is being produced to mark the 40th anniversary of Redwings in 2024.

Lynn Cutress, Redwings Chief Executive, said: “We are so excited about this amazing collaboration.

“Anna said her aim in writing this book was to “to induce kindness, sympathy, and an understanding treatment of horses”. Black Beauty is credited with changing attitudes around how we see and work with these magnificent creatures, including helping to bring about a ban on the use of the bearing rein, a cruel piece of tack she highlighted in her novel.

“This, though, is the first time its sale has directly benefitted horses in need, with 50% of the proceeds from every copy sold directly supporting Redwings’ work across the UK. Last year we gave a home to 109 horses and ponies who needed help and our field officers identified and intervened in 175 cases, improving the lives of 622 of these wonderful animals.

“We are very grateful to the UEA for this opportunity and all their kind support and feel sure this is something Anna would have approved of.”

Anna spent a great deal of time in Norfolk during her life. She was born on this day – 30th March, 1820 - in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk in what is now called Anna Sewell House. Her novel was published by Jarrold of Norwich, shortly before she passed away in 1878 in Old Catton. Nearly 150 years later, Redwings – who are responsible for over 2,000 horses, ponies, donkeys and mules - became the caretakers of her birthplace, using it to showcase Anna’s animal welfare legacy, and their own work. This new edition of her iconic book cements that relationship.

Professor Thomas Ruys Smith said: “This has been an incredible project to work on. Black Beauty is a book with so many wonderful connections with Norfolk and the world of animal welfare and it has been fascinating to unearth both its local history and its global legacies for this new edition. The text is based on the first edition of Black Beauty that Anna hand-dedicated to her aunts, which is now located at the Norfolk Heritage centre. It is designed to be as accessible as possible, produced in a font commissioned by the Braille institute, and will be entirely produced and printed in Norfolk. We hope that this special Redwings edition, putting Anna’s novel to work in the service of the horses she so loved, means we might finally be able to come to a proper reckoning with Norfolk’s most successful literary export.” n To find out more, visit www.redwings.org.uk