This is the remarkable story of a dog which was cruelly abused.Written in 1893, Beautiful Joe was the first book to sell 1,000,000 copies in Canada, which it did before 1900. The book is based on a true story which took place in Meaford Ontario, although the author relocated the story to Maine because she thought it would sell better. There is now a Beautiful Joe Heritage Society, raising funds to establish the Beautiful Joe Canine Museum in Meaford. This edition includes an essay describing the context of Beautiful Joe, written by Professor Elizabeth Waterston. It suggests that cruelty to animals was explored in literature as a precursor to cruelty to people.