Black Beauty. The Autobiography Of A Horse. Illustrated with Eighteen Plates in Colour and Specially Drawn for this Edition by Cecil Aldin. London: Jarrolds, (1938). Pp vii, 291. Small folio. Full dark blue buckram, illustration in gilt to upper cover & spine. Light shelf-wear to head & tail of spine, scattered spotting to margins of text, otherwise a nice bright copy.

Includes a seven-page introduction entitled ‘Appreciation and Life of the Author’ by the publisher William T.F. Jarrold.

First published in 1877, the novel became an immediate best-seller, with Sewell dying just five months after its publication. It is one of the best-selling book of all time, with over 50 million copies sold.