Mary Wright Sewell Mary Wright Sewell Mary Wright Sewell (; 6 April 1797 – 10 June 1884) was an English poet and children's author. Though popular for writing juvenile bestsellers in her day, she is better known today as the mother of Anna Sewell, the author of "Black Beauty". Mary was born into the Quaker faith in 1797, and she married Isaac Sewell on the 15 June 1819 at Lamas in Norfolk. Her daughter Anna was born in 1820 and her son Philip two years later. Her husband Isaac had a number of ill-advised businesses and he declared himself bankrupt after his son
Classic book and Andre Maurois. "Classic Books" reading lists now in use at some universities have been in modern vogue since at least the early part of the 20th century, with the additional impetus in 1909 of the Harvard Classics publishing imprimatur having individual works chosen by outgoing Harvard University president Charles W. Eliot. The vogue for these "Reading Lists" has continued onto the 21st century, e.g., Jane Mallison's "Book Smart: Your Essential Reading List for Becoming a Literary Genius in 365 Days" (2007). Classic book A "classic" is a book accepted as being exemplary or noteworthy, for example through an imprimatur